Untitled
by Diniseni
Summary: Strange plants have invaded Malkuth, Luke's been possessed, and our heroes will soon find that this might be something so much bigger than they can handle. Ancient connections will have to come anew to take down this new enemy. Post ToA & ToS
1. Glimpse of the Future

I don't own TOA...

* * *

Luke stood on his hands and knees, and used his sword to suppord himself. He looked at the six figures in front of him. Rain was coming down in sheets, washing away the blood. He smiled laughed, and dropped the blade. "You have...no idea...what you've done..." he said, then collapsed.

"Master!" Mieu rushed forward.

Jade held the cheagle back. "Wait."

Seconds passed, then the group covered their eyes against a bright black and white flash.

The rain was subsiding as a voice echoed through the meadow. "You have no idea!"

Anise shivered at the laugh that was ringing in her ears as they made their way out of the forest, to the Angel Wing. She paused. Tear, Natalia, Mieu, and Guy carrying Luke passed her. Behind her, Jade had stopped to look back towards the meadow.

"Colonel, what is it?"

The colonel back, hands in his pockets.

"It's nothing."

* * *

Okay, don'y expect this to update all that often. I just had to write it so I don't forget it.


	2. What an interesting way to die

Well the last chapter was more like a look into the future at what is _going_ to happen. So Luke hasn't turned evil or anything right now.

I've also decided to drop the idea of trying to finish one story before posting another. It's getting tiring. So from now on, if I have an idea, and I'm pretty sure I can be put into words, it'll be posted! Anyhow...

I don't own ToA or ToS.

And now, for the start of yet another story-

Read on!!

* * *

Peony looked from the papers in his hands, to the chaotic streets of Grand Chokmah.

Plants were growing at an alarming speed, growing up from the sea, from the potted plants in the streets, blotting out the sun that used to smother the city, tearing up paths, crawling up walls. Guards were carrying bags for him, and the remaining residence of the city. They were evacuating. There was a strange, panicky tension in the air as researchers all over Auldrant tried to figure out was was causing this. The only thing they'd come up with was:

"An eighth fonon?" he looked at the man standing on the stairs next to him.

Jade pushed his glasses up. "Apparently. According to the researchers, the fonons aren't like any other we've discovered. Darker than Shadow itself, so they say. Their structure is almost completely different as well, like it isn't even fonons we're dealing with." he looked at the blackened vine on the wall next to him, was it him, or could he just _see_ the thing growing? "And they seem to be moving in a rather organized manner. Like there's something controlling them."

"Like they're looking for something..." Peony trailed off, glancing at the palace behind him.

"Something wrong, Your Majesty?" Jade asked.

"No." the Emperor shook his head. "Well, I guess we'll be seeing each other in a few days then."

"Indeed."

"Remember, just get in, and get out. Don't go too far in, we don't know what this stuff can do, so don't do more than you have to, alright?"

Jade nodded. Under normal circumstances, Peony wouldn't usually say this to him. But this wasn't normal. Unusual fonons were streaming out of Tataroo Valley, seeming to disappear, then reappear inside Grand Chokmah. Peony nodded once, then followed his guard to the port. Jade waited, then turned to face the small group behind him. They were going on foot to the valley, seeing as if they boarded the ship, they might miss any other fonon activity in the surrounding areas.

"Well then," he gave his usual smile. "Let's be on our way, shall we?"

--1 day later--

Two years and three months, and Luke was amazed that the people of Auldrant hadn't gone insane with out the score that they'd relied on for two-thousand years. Even though he had only been here for three months, he could tell that the world was on it's way. Well, that was what he used to think. The thought was shaken by the presence of strange, never before seen fonons in Tataroo valley.

Tear squeezed his hand, sensing his slight discomfort. "Don't worry." she said quietly.

He nodded reassuringly. On his other side stood his no-longer-servant-best-friend Guy. Natalia and her father, King Ingobert VI sat behind them. Count Almandine stood next to them. They were all awaiting the arrival of Emperor peony the Ninth.

Luke sighed. "This is gonna be one hell of a clean up when it's done." he muttered.

Guy heard him. "If it doesn't kill us first." he whispered back. Luke elbowed him in the ribs.

"Quit saying that."

"Just saying the possibilities."

"Both of you, stop it."

They both fell silent at Tear's quiet, yet strict voice.

_Good thing ships are faster now..._Luke thought. He didn't like having to wait. Waiting two years to get back to the surface was enough for him.

A few minuted later, and the large doors opened, and General Cecille walked in, followed by Peony, and their guards.

Peony-not talking like a surfer for once- gave a small bow. "Greetings, Your Majesty."

King Ingobert did the same. "The same to you."

It was then that Luke noticed something missing. "Hey, where is Jade?"

Peony smiled. "I believe I mentioned that in my letter. I've sent him and some of his men to check out the valley on foot. They'll be joining us in a few days time."

"I see. Won't that be dangerous?" Guy said.

"Everything is dangerous, Gailardia." Peony said. "Depending on your definition of dangerous, of course. Don't worry though, I told him to get in and out as fast as possible, if possible, get a sample of what's running through those plants."

"You sound like Jade now..." Luke muttered, using old habits.

"Oh do I make a good Jade? Don't worry, I won't be needing to fill in for him for long." then he turned around as the doors opened again. Some guards from both countries shuffled in.

"The uh...rappigs are safely in their room, sir." a Malkuthian said.

"The maids are looking after them." the Kimlascan said.

"Good work boys!" Peony grinned happily, slipping back to his usual speech.

Luke could just hear the squeals of adoration from the maids in the castle who had probably never seen a rappig before. And to finally get to see one, to see one of the _Emperor's_ rappigs...oh yes, they'd be looking at them all night...

"I should go see them. My cute little Jade must be terrified..."

Luke and Guy snorted with silent laughter, while Tear couldn't resist a smile when she saw the confused look on General Cecille, Count Almandine, and the King's faces.

"Ahem-Well, then, shall we head to the manor for dinner, or shall we dine with the Emperor?" Natalia asked. Her first words also shook with laughter.

"I think we should sit with the Emperor," Luke raised a finger.

"I second that." Tear agreed.

"Yeah, right after he checks on his...rappigs." Guy couldn't bring himself to say 'cute little Jade'.

* * *

(A/N-Yeah Guy, I wouldn't either. I'd be laughing to hard...

* * *

--1 and a half days later--

Jade and his men stood on the bridge that led to the entrance of the forest. A soldier gulped. What used to be a perfect postcard picture was now death's door step. Dark plants were everywhere, even spouting up on the other side of the bridge.

He looked around after a few steps in, his squad close behind. The place was almost unrecognizable. Nearly all the plants were a deep black, or a very dark green, and the path was no longer visible. The sounds of the near-by river were faint through the trees. There were no birds, and no monsters. Heck the plants themselves were the monsters.

He went farther in, but kept the bridge visible. The colonel waved his hand, a silent order for the men to spread out, checking for anything other than the plants. He bent down to slide his gloved finger over a vine on the ground, wearing a face of slight disgust as a thick gooey slime clung to the fabric. He carefully wiped the slime into a small vile, then putting it back in his pocket.

"Ugh. Horrible." Jade looked at a soldier who'd cut open a thick root, and was covering his nose against the stench. Jade's face was of true disgust now, not even bothering to hide it. The smell was so strong he could taste it. He was beginning to greatly dislike this mission, and was thinking of ways to punish the Emperor for giving it to him. Why couldn't he give the mission to General Courtz?

His thoughts were cut off by a small movement behind him. He spun on his heel, signaling the soldiers to prepare themselves if needed, his own spear forming in his hand.

Everything was still, red eyes narrowing, his slowly turned his head, looking for signs of movement.

Just then, a startled cried erupted behind him. He turned, but the soldier was already gone.

"Jin?! Jin!!" the soldiers scrambled, looking for their missing comrade.

"Stop!" Jade ordered. "Be quiet."

They stopped immediately, holding up their weapons. Jade stepped forward, noticing that one soldier was shaking. He looked at the small trenches in the dirt, made by the soldiers heels and fingers, leading deeper into the forest.

"...We leave." he stated.

"B-but Jin-" the shaking soldier started.

"Is dead. There is nothing we can do. We leave. Now." Jade looked at the man, who only nodded angrily.

"Uh...sir?"

"Hm?"

"How are we getting out?" the soldier asked, his brown eyes looked around, scared, like the others.

"What?"

"We-we're trapped, sir."

Oh yeah, state the obvious. That will make it better...

Jade looked up to what little sky he could see."Damn..." Night had fallen. The only light came from a single lantern held by one of the six men left, excluding Jade. But it's light couldn't reach out to where they'd come.

"We'll have to cut our way out." One soldier suggested.

Jade looked at the root that had been cut earlier. It had healed. A grey line was the only thing left.

"No. That won't work." Jade said.

"Then what?"

Jade thought for a moment..._If cutting them doesn't work, then..._He started to cast flame burst. _What about fire?_

"Burning them! Great idea!"

_But based on how quickly it healed itself..._"As soon as I finish casting, you run as fast as you can, understand?"

"Yessir!"They prepared to run.

"Leave the lantern with me. I'll need a way out, I won't be able to run at once." Jade said.

"A-alright." The lantern holding soldier stuck his sword in the ground, and hung the lantern on the hilt, unsure if he should be doing it or not.

"Go! Now! _Flame burst!_"

The soldiers all sprinted through the flaming path. As he'd thought, the plants immediately set to work. Diminishing the flames, and healing themselves. Screams and shouts signaled that someone had fallen, and someone came back to get them. And that they weren't getting out.

Jade grabbed the lantern, and, intending to alight the path again, threw it. It was lasting longer, fueled by the oil.

He took as step, and found that he couldn't move his other leg.

"Huh..." as soon as he'd cast the arte, the forest had set to stopping at least him from getting out in one piece, if at all. "Well, what an interesting way to die..."

Jade grunted as he hit the ground, the vine pulled him deeper into the woods. He soon found himself hanging upside down on the side of a small cliff, the vine continued to coil around his leg, other coming to assist it. "What an interesting bunch of plants..." he muttered. Getting drowsy...Now he realized what the slime was. It was a defence mechanism, to overwhelm the victims system. "Dying in the name of science...that's...what I thought..." He realized that his glasses were gone. "Hm...have to...get those...back..." the stench finally overwhelmed him as a vine crept over his face.

Getting darker...colder...colder...

Voices...in...out...in...out...in.........out.

* * *

General Courtz is just a guy I made up, seeing as Fringes died. I guess he'll make a few appearances...

Well that's it for this one! Hope you enjoyed it, do I need to improve on some things? I think this is the first character death scene I've written, but I usually go by what other have done. By the gods I say usual a lot...Somebody help me find a new word...

'til next chapter!!!


	3. Saving the Colonel

I have just noticed that I left Dist out of the last chapter...and that I seem to be updating faster...I'll have to add some sort up reference to Dist in this or the next chapter...Oh well. Well now that I've just killed Jade in the last chapter, let's see what we can do about sending Luke and co. to investigate...mwahahaha...

-coughcoughinsertLukecoughevilnessherecoughcough-

I don't own this game! But I want Kratos...nyah...

Read on!!

* * *

Luke, Guy, and Tear had been called to Peony's room, and they now watched him pace back and forth, muttering. "Should have been here by now...Can't be...no, stop it!" the Emperor hit himself over the head every time he came to a certain possibility.

"Um, Your Majesty, is there a reason you called us here?" Guy asked, as if he didn't already know the answer. Jade hadn't come back yet. And it had been more than a week.

"Yes." he finally stopped pacing to stare the trio down with worried, but commanding eyes. "I want you to go to the valley, don't do anything, just go in, find anything but the plants unusual, and get out."

"But-" Tear was about to reject the idea of just barging in, when a soldier ran in.

"Sir!" he saluted. "The party that was sent to Tataroo Valley, they've returned!"

"All of them?" Peony asked.

"No sir."

"How many?"

"Only one, sir."

"Name?" Peony leaned in.

"Trithan, sir."

"...You're sure?"

"Yes, he requested that you come to the audience hall immediately."

"Alright. Thank you."

The soldier saluted again, then left.

"Hey, Peony?" Luke looked at the Emperor. He turned his back to them for a moment, then headed for the door. "Let's go."

---

In the audience hall, there was indeed only one soldier from the investigation party Peony had sent there. His uniform was cut, and covered in dry blood.

"What happened?" peony asked as he entered, followed by Luke, Guy and Tear.

"The entire forest was infested with those dark plants, like the ones in the city." he started. "They gave off this...horrible stench, it was almost too much to bear. Then we heard a sound, and then-Ji-Jin, was gone! But then Colonel Curtiss wouldn't let us save him, he-he said Jin was dead, and..."

"And?"

The soldier gulped, then continued his story. "The Colonel said cutting our way through wouldn't work, those plants heal way too fast. So he used an arte, to burn a path for us. We left the lantern so that her could keep the fire going for himself. The fire...the plants somehow put ou the fire...almost immediately...The whole forest was after us! There was another that got out with me, but...He died when we reached Chesedonia, sir."

"You...never saw Jade?" Peony's voice was cracking.

"We waited for as long as we could sir...but...no. We didn't."

Peony stared at the floor.

"I-I'm sorry sir..." the soldier gave a weak saluted again.

Peony nodded, but continued to stare at his feet. Then he looked at the three people in front of him, pure determination in his eyes. "You're going to check it out." he said. He wasn't just asking them now, he was _ordering_ them to go to Tataroo Valley.

"We'll do our best." Guy and Tear nodded with Luke.

* * *

"Well, this isn't how I imagined getting back on the road again..." Luke said as they left Chesedonia.

"Yeah, going to save the Colonel-or his body- from and infested forest...not the best way to start out..." Guy agreed. "It'll take about...3 days to get there from here."

They'd gotten a ship from Baticul to Chesedonia, the quicker, the better Peony said.

---3 days later---

"Oh my..." Tear looked at what had become of the forest.

"Man, even Jade might not be able to handle a forest this nasty..." Guy said as they walked into the forest.

"Is that...blood?" Luke scanned a tree."

"Careful Luke," Guy warned.

"Don't get too close, from what that soldier said, these plants will attack if we get too close." Tear said.

"I know. But as long as we don't touch anything, we're okay, right?"

"Yes. Probably."

"Alright then...carefully..." Luke muttered as he walked on his toes, stepping over anything and everything on the ground.

After just a few steps into the woods, Luke stepped on something, sending a loud crack through the woods. They all froze, listening for any sounds.

"Luke!" Tear scolded as he bent down to pick up what he'd stepped on.

"H-hey..." Luke held up a pair of thin, silver glasses. One of the lenses was broken.

"Jade's glasses..." Guy looked at the disfigured glasses for a moment, then looked at the thin trenches on the ground. "Looks like someone was dragged..."

"Let's try to see where they lead." Tear started to follow the dirt paths.

"Didn't that soldier say there were other that made it out?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't see any... I guess these plants already took care of them..." Guy shuddered. "Let's go."

Eventually, they came to a path alongside a small cliff that Luke somehow recognized. "I remember coming down this path, and getting attacked by two monsters. And I thought I was going to die..."

"Nice, Luke." Guy said.

"Shut up."

"You brought it up."

"Yeah well-wait..." Luke squinted in the low light. Looking along the wall. "I feel like...there's something here..."

"A monster?" Tear held her staff.

"No...it's more like...I don't know...It doesn't feel particularly bad..." he unsheathed his sword, turning to his left. "But just in case..." Something red caught his eye. Luke held his sword at the ready as he slowly approached the red dot. But as soon as he got close enough, he almost dropped the blade.

"Luke, what is it?" Tear and Guy were behind him at once.

"It's an- I think it's-" Luke stuttered, pointing at the spot of red. It was an eye. It was staring right at him, but...not.

"An eye...? You don't think...?" Guy looked at his partners.

"Do you think he's still alive? I mean..." Luke trailed off.

Tear approached the vines with the lantern, holding it close, then taking it back.

"Er...What are you doing?" Luke looked confused.

Tear sighed in relief. "Yes, he's still alive."

"How do you know?"

"His pupils are responding to the light." Tear said. "But how do we get him out with out this whole forest trying to kill us?"

"Just...try to cut the vines slowly." Guy said, seeing no other option.

"But what if we get this whole forest after us? Then we die?" Luke started thinking up all the ways they could die.

"well, seeing as I've cut five vines, and we're alive." Guy stared.

"Shut up and keep cutting then!"

Jade's face was an odd combination of red, green, and white. The vines that were keeping him stuck upside down on the cliff side seemed to turn the skin green where they made contact.

"Saving Jade from an evil forest...Never thought this would happen..." Luke kept muttering.

They came to the point where they could pull Jade from the rest of the black and green vines. Tear frowned as they did so. For one, the man was just staring ahead, like he was in some form of shock, not even blinking. And second, the forest was just as quiet now as it was when they came in.

"Hey, Jade?" Luke shook his shoulder.

"C'mon Jade." Guy was slapping Jade's face lightly. "Why isn't he saying anything?"

Tear continued to frown. "This is strange."

Just then, Jade blinked.

"Jade?!" Luke shook his shoulder again. He blinked again, and again, one eye open wider than the other. He looked around, trying to focus on the three forms above him. He opened his mouth, but his throat was too soar to speak.

"Say something!" Guy urged him.

"...E..." Jade stared unfocused for a moment then he shot up, eyes wide. "No!"

"Wh-what the hell?!" Luke fell back.

"It was a trap!" the colonel cried, he held his head with both hands, trying to get rid of the head ache.

"what do you mean, a trap?" Tear asked Jade, unsure if he was really awake.

"It's too late now...Damn it...This is my fault." Jade scolded himself.

"Heh heh...like moths to the flame."

Luke looked behind him in surprise. A black, shadow form was floating behind him. White eyes were locked on to him. "What the hell?!"

"Who are you?" Tear stood up. "Are you the one who set this up?"

"Why did you do this?" Guy stood up as well, gesturing to Jade who was still on the ground.

"Pfft. He was only the bait." The thing blinked, and Jade fell back, gasping in pain. "I don't need him anymore."

"What are you!?" Luke demanded.

Suddenly, the black shadow jumped forward, covering Luke, then it was gone. Luke fell to his knees, holding his head.

"Aarrgh!!"

"Luke!" Guy rushed forward, and was flung back by an invisible force. Tear kept her post next to the unconscious Jade, watching as Luke writhed in pain. "Luke!"

Luke stopped yelling, and stood up, shaking, muttering "Ehah...Your worst nightmare."

"L-Luke?" Tear stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Ah!" she gasped as Luke spun around, grabbing her wrist with so much force, he almost broke it.

"Luke! What are you...what?" Guy looked at his eyes. Marble white. "What have you done!?" His face twisted in anger.

"Just taking on a more suitable form." The shadow in Luke's body answered, an evil smirked on his face. "Hehe. Have fun with your friend." Luke grinned then disappeared.

Tear fell on her knees, tears threatening to fall. "Luke...?" she lost him again...

"Tear..." Guy was going to comfort her, then remembered his slight phobia, and the fact that Jade was waking up again. "Jade?" Guy looked from Tear to Jade cautiously.

Jade tilted his head as he sat up. For once, he looked completely lost, and confused.

"Uh, Jade? Hello?" Guy tried again. Jade stared up at him with no response, except:

"Um...hi?"

Tear turned around, surprised that it was Jade that spoke. "Is...Is he okay?" she asked.

"I dunno. Can you stand?"

Jade looked from Tear to Guy, then stood up like nothing had even happened. But he continued to stare in a lost kind of manner. He looked at his surroundings and frowned. "...I can't see."

"What? Oh!" Guy grabbed the broken glasses from his pocket. "Here, they're broken, but it's all we have.

Jade took the glasses, stared at the shattered lens, and put them on. Moving the hair from his face, he began to stare down the two figures in front of his with an intense look of of complete confusion. "Why am I here?"

"You...don't remember?" Guy asked him, confused as well. "Don't tell me..."

Tear came to the realization as well. She stepped forward. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Um..." Jade thought for a while. Then shook his head, shrugging.

"Oh dear..." Tear sighed.

"Well, do you at least remember your name?" Guy asked.

"Uh...Jade...I think?"

"You think?"

"Well you keep calling me Jade so..."

"Oh man..." Guy sighed.

This was great. Just fantastic. First Grand Chokmah is infested with plants, Jade goes temporarily missing, this forest kills six soldiers, probably poisoned Jade, some sort of Shadow figure invaded Luke's body, Luke is gone, and now Jade has amnesia. "Just great..."

"We should get out of here." Tear said. "It's making me nervous to stay here, nothings happened."

"Which means it was probably that shadow thing that was controlling this place." Guy said.

"What shadow guy?" jade was lost.

"We'll explain when we get to the city. Come on." Guy led Jade through the forest by the arm. Great...now he was baby sitting a 37 year old necromancer...

Peony was gonna be either ticked off, or he was going to go out of his way trying to reform Jade's memory.

* * *

Okay, no mention to Dist but I think I did good. Mwahaha...I wasn't actually planning on taking Jade's memory away, but I guess stuff like that just happens... Anyway, tell me what you thought! Or what I need to improve on...


	4. Jade's New Uniform

First off: I'm still thinking of different names for this story, so if you wanna help me out a little? I'll be making a poll for it sooner or later if anybody want to know.

Second: I forgot to mention in the last chapter that when the shadow said "Like moths to the flame" I did indeed steal that from Yuan-Tales of Symphonia.

I do not own either Tales games involved in this story!!!

For another time, and many more times to come:

Read on!!

* * *

It wasn't easy to travel three days back to Chesedonia. But they made it, Guy sending a carrier pigeon to Baticul, then renting a room.

Tear felt like she was in hyperressonance training with Luke again, the only difference: Luke was gone. Several nightmares haunted her dreams as they traveled. Each time, she awoke hoping that the events of this month had all been a big night mare. But Jade's blank face had wiped those hopes away. Every day, a monster or two would sneak up behind Jade, and when it did, he was amazed at the fact that he could pull a spear out from now where.

_'Great...spear wielding amnesiac...'_ Guy thought. _'Fantastic...'_ Why was Guy in a strangely abnormal mood lately? It had been announced some time ago that he and Natalia would be married. Even with his lingering phobia, they'd insisted on it. Saying it would be the ultimate symbol of peace. Natalia had been dragging him everywhere in preparation. Of course, their marriage would be the last thing on her mind when she heard of this.

Another 'strange' thing other than Guy's mood of late, was the vile of revolting green slime that was found in Jade's pocket. He'd taken the cork off the top, then immediately shove it back in. Pinching his nose, Jade held the bottle at arms length. "I don't know what it is, but it smells horrible." he said in a high, congested sort of voice.

Tear didn't go anywhere near it, the mere sight of it made her hair stand up on end, even though she was trained for the unexpected. She didn't know the unexpected included the stench of this stuff.

A carrier pigeon was sent as soon as they arrived. And a room was rented for the night.

Guy had taken it upon himself to find Jade some clothes other then the ripped, stained colonel's uniform they found him in.

There wasn't much to do, Tear sat on her bed, worrying about Luke, and Jade wasn't much for conversation. The only thing to do was wait, and read one of the old, decrepit books in the small shelf next to a rather squishy arm chair. He also needed to figure out the difference between Jade's glasses, and normal glasses. Jade had said there was a specific difference when they were working to stop Van. What that could possibly be, he didn't know...

* * *

Peony wasn't sad, but he wasn't really happy either. Yes, his best friend was back, but what good is it when your best friend doesn't even remember you? Every time Peony had confronted Jade, trying to get him to 'cut the act', the necromancer turned amnesiac would stare at him blankly. Then Peony would huff in slight annoyance, and leave.

Anise had come to 'join the party' as she said, as soon as she heard. Not only did she come with worry for her favorite colonel, and the fact that something had kidnapped Luke, she came fully loaded with stories to tell, how the Order was still clinging to old memories, how Fon Master Florian had given her a new promotion, how there was a new boy in town, and on, and on, and on.

The marriage of Princess Natalia and the last member of House Gardios was also the last thing on their minds. Maids and citizens alike ran around crying "Master Luke! Master Luke is missing!" Search parties were set up immediately, to search. There was also an order to everybody from both Kings that no one was to go anywhere near the dark plants. Researchers were still trying to figure out what they were made of, and what was controlling them. The Shadow form was also on their hit list.

But Jade didn't really pay attention to all of this chaos. Exactly one week had passed. Peony would have been happy that Jade had dug up a piece of his memory, but it was this certain memory that kept him on the ground.

---

_Anise, Guy, Tear, and Peony were standing around Jade's bed, in the middle of the night, trying to wake him as he tossed and turned. The blanket had been thrown away as a cold sweat ran down his body._

_"What's going on?!" Anise cried._

_"A night mare!" Guy said._

_"He isn't waking up." Tear said._

_Peony had a sudden realization. If this was what he thought it was... He brought his hand up._

_"What are you doing?!" Anise asked._

_"..." Peony brought his hand down across Jade's face. His eyes snapped open and he shot up straight, shaking. _

_"Jade? Jade what happened?" Guy asked, setting a hand on his shoulder._

_He didn't respond right away. "..."  
_

_"Jade..." Peony sat on the edge of the bed. "Come on, tell us what happened."_

_It was strange really, seeing Jade in such a state. But Anise couldn't find any other reason for what she heard._

_"I...I ki-I killed her...I tried to save her..."_

_Tear felt a pang in her chest. Out of all the memories you ever had, the first one to remember was death. _

_So Peony did something Jade probably wouldn't have let him do under normal circumstances. He leaned over, wrapping his arms around the others shoulders. "But what's done is done. What's in the past stays, you don't have to worry about it now. Come on, stop shaking." _

_The shaking eventually did stop, Anise, Tear and Guy had gone back to their rooms, telling Jade to try to sleep again. Thought Peony doubted that he would be able to get a worthy nights sleep without being woken up by sudden memories of killing humans._

---

Jade sat on his bed, not really paying attention to anything. Trying to place memories was getting slightly easier. The majority of them were some he'd rather not think about, but some he liked to linger on. Like the time a new maid had arrived, and was to walk a rappig. She huffed, saying that only little rappig shouldn't be any sort of challenge, and ended up being dragged all over the city by the things.

Or the time Peony had started doing some sort of creepy dance because of his new rappig, and ended up in the ocean.

But he'd yet to discover who that silver haired boy was...Every time he thought about it, a pair of violet eyes would stare back from the memory.

Professor Nebilim. That name kept coming back. The memory of her death would follow soon after, and then he would sit there for the next five minutes, chanting "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts..."

* * *

(Some amount of days have passed)

(A/N:I know, time's passing quick, but that's me, I hate lingering on things like these.)

* * *

Peony had a mission for them. Not just Peony, but Ingobert had agreed to investigate Grand Chokmah. Something there was attraction the plants, and both rulers both seemed on edge. They knew something everybody else didn't, Anise thought, but no details were uttered. When Jade was ready, they would leave. Thankfully, a certain somebody had been called, just for the event. The Albiore II, and its pilot, Noelle. Asked by Peony, ordered by the king to escort them to the infested city.

"I have to say though, this is all so...strange." Noelle said as she was given a seat at the dining table. "These plants, and what happened to Luke."

"Huh? You already knew?" Anise asked.

"I was told in the letter." Noelle replied.

"Oh..."

Silence.

"So how's Ginji?" Guy asked, trying to break the silence.

"Oh he's good..." Everybody continued to pick their food.

"...What's Aston up to?" Guy tried again.

"Oh Aston? He's got a new project on the road now. Do you know Shiba?" Noelle said.

"Yeah, has he finally decided to stay in Sheridan for a while?"

"He's helping to. That dog of his is helpful too. He does what ever you tell him to." Noelle said happily. "He's so fluffy too..."

"What was that?"

"Uh...nothing!" Hm. Seems Noelle and Tear have the same weakness...

"What's he working on?" Guy leaned forward.

"I'm sorry. I swore I wouldn't tell. Aston says it's something that he started just for these types of...events." Noelle said.

"Really?!" Guy grinned. "Just for us? I wonder what it is..."

"Now now Guy, you wouldn't want to go snooping around would you? That would defeat the entire purpose of surprises!"

Everybody turned to the source of the teasing voice.

"Jade!!"

Peony forgot all manners, and ran to hug the man that had appeared in the door way. Who let him hug him for a moment, then held him away at arms length. "I have to say though, some memories are still a bit misty...or missing."

"Well who cares about that!" Anise slunk up behind him, and hugged him around the waist, grinning madly. Operation: Hug the Necromancer: Success! "What matters is that you're not just sitting around like a bum anymore!"

Jade tried to pry her hands away from his waist, but was unsuccessful as Guy put a hand on his shoulder. "I agree. Welcome back."

"Yes, it was rather...unnerving to have someone such as you in such a state." Natalia said, Tear nodded in agreement, neither woman being the type to run up and hug him like Anise.

"Yes, is excellent." The King nodded. "Now we can continue with our plans."

"And those would be?" Jade took as seat next to Peony. or rather, was forced to sit next to the overly happy Emperor.

"We're planning to go to Grand Chokmah." Guy answered.

"Yes." Peony said. "There's something there that I would like you to retrieve."

"Why couldn't you just bring it with you in the first place?" Anise asked.

"I'm sorry. I can't say anything until I have it. It's top secret to my family." Peony said.

"Well then, while we're on the matter of traveling, would someone like to tell me where my clothes are?" Jade was referring to the fact that he was wearing some off white pajamas, and a pair of slippers.

"Well. I'm sorry to say," Peony said. "But your uniform has been, to say, totaled."

Jade lifted an eyebrow at Peony's grin. "But don't worry! I got a whole new one made up!"

"Oh no..." Jade sighed.

"Hey! It isn't that bad! Besides! It looks a lot better that other one you had!"

"You designed that." Jade reminded him.

"Oh well, what's done is done! I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into that!" Peony laughed. Then muttered "Literally..."

Jade shivered.

Anise, Guy, Tear and Natalia stayed silent. Listening to this conversation.

"The Emperor designed his uniform himself?" Anise wondered.

"Well, I guess that explained that pak-man belt..." Guy said.

"Yes." Tear said.

"Quite." Natalia agreed.

'This is an...interesting...reunion...' Noelle thought.

The king said nothing.

* * *

"Seriously though, you got to admit. It's pretty good." Peony and Jade stood in the bathroom, looking in the full body mirror at Peony's 'masterpiece'.

The boots and gloves were much the same, except the dark blue they once were was now a considerably lighter shade, with a yellow line running down the side of the gloves. The tips of his boots were now white. The jacket had 'suffered' a dramatic change as well. It was all white, the tails were lined with three yellow lines instead of white, and the whole jacket was lined by a gold streak as well. The buttons were in more of a diamond shape, instead of a square, and the collar from the shirt underneath was a shade of blue slightly darker than his gloves, matching his pants, and lined with belt was also the same blue, and the pac-man on it was gold colored, with little white dots in front of it. Jade can't ever seem to escape the pac-man curse...

"See?" Peony held up the old uniform. Jade had to agree, it did look quite depressing next to the one he currently wore. "New, old and dirty. New, old and dirty."

"Now that you're done comparing the uniforms that you designed. I have to say...It's rather...white."

"Oh come now, there's gotta be something you like about it!" Peony exclaimed.

"Oh but that would ruin the suspense now, wouldn't it?" Jade said, grinning.

"...You can't give anybody a break can you?"

"Oh, I'm afraid that's not a part of my nature."

"I thought being good and honest was."

"Yes, but so is how you say it 'being a jerk'."

"...Touche."

"Hey are you guys done in-hey! You look good in that Colonel!" Anise stuck her head in the door.

"Heh heh. See?" Peony smiled in victory.

"Why thank you Anise. If I look so good, maybe it would look even better on you! All you have to do is ask my VERY generous friend here."

"Hey!"

"Oh! Really?" Anise giggled. "Well, while you do that, we're going to leave soon, I just came to say."

"Thanks Jade. Now I'll have to get pricked again or else she'll maul me..."

"Oh you're welcome, Your Majesty!"

* * *

"Hey, are you done-whoa." Guy looked Jade from head to toe, "Wow. Emperor Peony did that?"

"Yes, he did." Jade said, boarding the Albiore.

"Wow. I have to say, he did a good job." Natalia said.

"Yes, I never thought Emperor peony to be the type to sew." Tear agreed.

"Oh I'm sure he has lots of free time for it, but enough about my new wardrobe, let's say we get on our way?" Jade said.

"Yeah!" Anise jumped into a seat. "This is my seat!"

"Hey come on, you two got to sit there last time." Guy said, referring to Jade and Anise. "I always had to stand."

"Well, it looks like you'll have to keep on standing them." Jade said from his seat. "Unless you want to take their seat. Guy! That's not very nice!"

"Yeah! Where's your manners Guy?!" Anise said.

"H-hey! Why don't you stand then?!" Guy pointed at Jade.

"Oh, I'm afraid not. You know, at this age, my bones hurt, you see." Jade smiled. "Besides, my memory seems to be failing me. I remember no such event where I sat in this seat."

"You jerk..."

"Oh boy..." Noelle laughed and sighed at the same time.

* * *

Mwahaha. Well, I was in school, listening to music, when I started organizing the main events in this story, and ended up with about 45 chapters(with more on the way). But to see that, you guy are gonna have to be really nice, and not only read this story, but review! You know I can't go on without them!!

Remember when I said I wouldn't be updating this too often? Well, I finally figured out my own writing patterns, and when the urge to write this story dies down, updates will be slow, and I will gradually start updating any stories I've neglected until then. So be patient, and maybe in the next little while, a story you've been waiting for a long to time update, will be sitting with another chapter on the list!!


	5. A Secret Passage

Mwahaha. I am back. I have nothing to say though. That makes me feel kind of...I dunno retarded.

I don't own anything.

Read on!!

* * *

The plant invasion had gotten a lot worse since the last time he was here, Jade noted. The city was barely recognizable. If anything, the plants had spread out of the looked around as they left the Albiore. He couldn't see any way into the abandoned city.

"Hm. I guess we'll have to cut our way in." Guy said.

"Yeah. I can't see any other way in." Anise nodded.

"Wait," Jade stepped forward, and quickly slashed a root. It immediately started to heal itself. Not as quickly as they did in the forest, but too fast all the same. "As I thought. Cutting our way through won't work."

"Then how...?" Natalia asked.

"Hm. Why don't we go visit the Cheagle woods?" Jade suggested, turning back to the Albiore.

"Huh? Oh! Are we going to see Mieu?" Anise asked.

"It appears so." Natalia followed Jade back to the plane.

* * *

"It's almost like this place isn't even being affected, and it's so close to Grand Chokmah." Tear said.

"We should hurry."

"Yes." Everybody nodded in agreement.

It was quiet as they ventured through the Cheagle woods. Like the plants and animals could sense the danger not so far away from them. But the giant tree trunk that the multicolored animals lived in was still lively. The cheagles crowded around their feet as they entered. They formed a path, leading to the cheagle elder.

"You've come because of the uprising of the unknown substance in the north, have you?" it asked(A/N: I'm not sure if the elder is male or female so I say 'it').

"You know of it?" Tear asked.

"We've sent scouts multiple times to check their status." it replied.

"If it's possible, we'd like to speak with Mieu." Guy asked.

"Mieu!" A blue cheagle jumped forward. The elder gave the sorcerer's ring to him, then stepped back. "I'm so glad to see all of you!"

"We're glad to see you too!" Anise said.

"Where's Master?" Mieu looked at every one in front of him.

"Well...It's kind of hard to explain." Guy said.

"But I'm sure you're up to it, aren't you Guy?" Jade said.

"Yeah yeah..." Guy sighed.

As Guy told the story, Mieu interrupted every once and a while with a gasp or an 'Oh no!'."

"But we need to get into the city, and just cutting the plants away won't work." Guy finished.

"So will you help us, Mieu?" Natalia asked.

"Jade said that fire works longer, and if we can find the source of the plants power, we might be able to stop all of this." Tear said.

"Of course I'll help you! I have to save Master!" Mieu said at once.

"You know Mieu, he isn't your master anymore. You can stop calling him that." Anise said.

"Nope! Master will always be Master to me!" Mieu said with a smile.

The cheagle elder and Mieu exchanged a few words, and a few nods, then he turned to them with a determined face. "Okay! Let's go!"

* * *

"Think you can handle this, Mieu?" Anise looked down at the cheagle in her arms.

"I'll try my best!" He jumped down, approaching the wall of plants, stepping on a blue cobble stone every few steps. He took a deep breath, then blew out a stream of flames.

"Whoa!" Anise jumped back.

"Mieu has grown older, and since the ring amplifies ones abilities, this is to be expected." Jade explained.

"Let's go!"

They ran in as the flames slowly died down, green slime oozed from the broken, burnt plants.

"Augh!" Natalia covered her nose in an attempt to drive away the stench.

"Keep you nose and mouth covered. This slime is their defense mechanism. Inhale too much and it will overwhelm your system." Jade said with his arm over his face. Being one with first hand experience with the stuff, the others listened, an they too held their arms over their faces. Mieu continued to spit fire to form a path for them.

"Tear! Move!" Guy quickly moved to push Tear away as a vine suddenly shot out at her, forgetting his phobia.

"Let's hurry up!!" Anise picked up Mieu, and began running, the others right behind her.

"Don't stop! Get to the military base!" Jade commanded. Hopefully they remembered where to go.

"Why not-why not the palace?" Guy said, slashing vines out of his way, and nearly running into a flaming branch.

"That would be extremely unwise." Jade said as he followed Anise and Mieu through the mess of branches, vines, and other assorted plants that had noticed their intrusion. "The palace is where these plants are trying to get."

"Trying?" Tear asked.

"Of course, the palace is protected by a fonic barrier, and judging by the amount of plant life here, the shield hasn't been broken yet." Jade explained.

"Is there another way in?" Guy panted.

"Here!" Jade ran forward, and pulled a door open that everybody else probably would have ran straight past. "Hurry!"

"Holy crap!" Anise panted.

"That was...What are these things made of?!" Natalia dropped to her knees.

"You notice that there are plants in here too, right?" Guy said.

"Yes, but we don't have to worry about these ones. They don't have the power to do anything. Yet. That's why we have to hurry." Jade said. "There is a secret passage here, leading to a chamber underneath the palace. Which will lead into Peony's room."

"I see. So...Where is it?" Guy asked.

"I never saw anything that looked like a secret passage..." Anise muttered.

"Well, that would ruin the whole idea of 'secret' if you could see it, wouldn't it?"

"..."

"Well let's start looking then." They started running their hands across the walls in each room, while Jade sat near the back, smiling. After 10 minutes, he finally decided to speak up.

"You know, we could just go to my office, instead of looking all around here."

"What?! The passage is in your office?! And you didn't tell us!? I thought you said we had to hurry!" Anise scolded. Jade grinned.

"Oh well." He stepped into his office, reached into his desk, and then shut it.

A little bit of silence. "Uh, what are we waiting for?" Guy said after a few seconds.

Then the shelf on the far end of the room moved slowly, revealing a passage lit with oil lamps.

"...Oh."

"Let's hurry." Jade started walking quickly down the path. Despite the lamps, it was cold in the passage. There were no stairs, but they could feel gravity pulling as they walked in a spiral. The passage was made of old blue stones, and in between to stones, they could see plants slowly making there way in. But the farther they got, the less plants there were. The fonic barrier was doing it's job well.

"How far down does this go?" Tear asked, now she was holding Mieu.

"I don't know. I've never used it before." Jade replied.

"What, so we don't even know this will take us to the palace?!" Anise exclaimed.

Suddenly the ground shook. Everybody stopped in surprise.

"...We should keep our voices down." Jade stared to walk slower.

"That means you Anise." Guy said quietly.

"Shut up!"

Soon they came across a fork in the path.

"Which way do we go?" Mieu looked from one doorway to another.

"Obviously the one that goes up." Anise pointed to the staircase that was barely visible in the low light.

"Let's hurry. I don't like it down here." Natalia started up the stairs.

They found themselves in the sitting room just before Peony's bedroom. The light filtered through dark green, but there was no sign of the strange invasive plants inside the room.

"Hey, there's a note on the table." Guy said, Jade walked over to read it.

"It's written by Peony." he stated, he could tell by the fact that it was messy, and looked like it was written in a short amount of time. Like before they left...

_ Hey Jade,_

_Yeah, I guess you could say I planned ahead. When those plants came and tried to get into the palace, I knew right away what they were looking for. If you took the passage way from your office to get in here, then you'll know where to go. Go to the fork in the path, and take the path that led deeper down. Just to let you know, it looks like a dead end, but trust me, it isn't. A little bit of any body's blood should be enough to get you in. Good luck._

_ Peony._

"...Looks like we'll have to go back a little."

"Why?" Jade handed Guy the letter, he quickly scanned through it, and frowned. "Good luck? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it means. There's something there that we'll have to get past to get what ever Peony wants from here.

"We have to go back?" Anise asked.

"Yes." Jade walked back into the passage.

They all followed, it was evident that they didn't want to really do back into the cold dark passage way, but they had to.

"Now we have to take the other path?" Tear said, looking down into the pitch black darkness, shivering.

"Don't worry Tear, there aren't any ghosts here. At least, I don't think so." Jade teased.

"I-I'm not scared!" Tear said stiffly, walking ahead of everyone else. "Let's go!"

"Nice one." Guy muttered.

"It's dark, keep hold of the wall, just in case." Jade ignored him.

After another minute of walking, Tear could swear she would be able to see her breath if it wasn't so dark. "It's so dark in here..."

As if the darkness heard her, the passage suddenly lit up with blue light, where the light was coming from, they didn't know.

"Tear has the magic voice!" Anise exclaimed. Then walked straight into the wall. "What the?!"

"Hm. Just like the letter said. It looks like a dead end..." Jade mused, and began taking his glove off.

"Colonel, what are you doing?" Natalia asked.

"Opening a secret passage." Jade bent down and took a small dagger from the side of his boot. Anise leaned over, trying to figure out where the dagger came Jade pricked his finger, letting the blood run for a second.

"What the?!" Anise repeated.

Jade wiped the bloody finger down the wall, then stepped back.

"What was that for?!" Anise gaped.

"Peony said that any ones blood would be enough to get us through." Jade said. Then the wall lit up, and symbol flashed on the wall, the the wall disappeared with it.

"Oh..."

"Whoa..."

"Oh my..."

Everybody stared at the large, ancient looking room in front of them, lit by more strange blue light. A pool of water took up more than half of the room and a thin bridge stretched across to the other side. One the far side of the room, a small shrine came out from the wall. And in the shrine was what seemed to be the source of the light.

A large, blue sapphire cut into the shape almost like an arrow head, giving off bright blue light floated just above the stone floor.

* * *

Mwahaha, I ended the chapter. It seemed like a good place to end it. You'll just have to wait until next time to see why they needed luck. Anyway, byebye!


	6. Beginnings Part 1

Ugh, I have a small memory on the weekends. I logged on to MSN, and I stared at it thinking that I should have at least one e-mail because I updated the story. Then I realized that I started using another e-mail address and all my e-mails would go to that address instead...and then I nearly forgot my password for said e-mail... Man I feel even more retarded.

Anyway, this story is taking a little turn from its plot, but just for one chapter. I'm not telling you anything though. Just that this chapter is taking a little trip into the past, like before the Dawn Age past. I'm gonna put it in italics just because it's easier for me.

I don't own ToA or ToS.

Read on!!

* * *

_Princess Emalia and Princess Suzunna-Victarisa Alexandrilla. Twin girls, currently only 9 years old. Their mother, Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, ruled over one half of the world, whilst their father, Malkuth-Cresent ruled the other. This was the agreement made by the gods, the fonons, the summon spirits of Aselia, and Auldrant. While they were here on Auldrant, their cousins, Sylvarana, and Tetha'alla roamed Aselia, the world directly connected to theirs by the power of the Auldrant Shine._

_"Come on, Suzunna! I want to see The Skies!" Emalia yelled, wind blew her deep brown hair around her face as they climbed the mountain behind their home. Their friend, and guardian followed close behind._

_Treath Aurion wasn't sure he should be doing this. But a request from their Highness' had to be followed, no matter what. And as a member of a renowned family of knights, he wasn't about to reject an order. No, he wasn't. Even if he did, and got hanged for it, surely, one of his many brothers would be happy to take his place._

_"Slow down Emalia!" He warned. "You will fall if you don't be careful."_

_It wasn't really a mountain they were climbing, more like a stone hill. Not too steep, but not too flat, but not easy footing either. Ledges stuck out more than others, and stones poked the path. But it was worth the trip to climb, The Skies were a sight indeed. No matter the time of day, the lake reflected bright, dazzling colors, but when you look up to the clouds, only a tiny trace of what was reflected showed. The Queen had said that it was the power of the Auldrant Shine. A stone of great beauty, value, and most of all, power. It was the Auldrant Shine that kept Auldrant and Aselia from wandering away from each other into the abyss of space. At the top of the hill, stairs led to a small shrine, guarded by two large, ancient gargoyles. In this shrine, and five-pointed star, said to have been made by the Queen's ancestors, lay in a wall of gold. Each point was a different stone. Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Crystal, and Diamond. A sight indeed. Other knights in the guard had wondered where he'd gotten the stamina to make it all the way there in a matter of a couple of hours. He replied with:_

_"Why don't you try to follow Their Highness' up the mountain daily?"_

_The wind was picking up, he noticed. He looked at the darkening clouds hanging in the distance. A storm was coming. Rather large one for this time of year...He shook his head, thin black hair fell across his face. Great. Where was his Knights circlet when he needed it? Oh yeah, Suzunna had it stashed somewhere..._

_"Wait up Emalia!" Suzunna started running carefully up the rocky path. "Wait for me! I want to see The Skies too!"_

_Treath smiled. Despite the looming darkness, all was well. He relaxed his grip on Xincher, the steel blade tied to his waist. Soon, the young princess' would become of age. They would be taught to battle. And as twins, they would fight for the right of the Queen. So was the tradition. He looked at them with a sad stare. They were so close..._

_"Treath! Treath, are you day dreaming again?"_

_He looked down to see Suzunna's large brown eyes looking up at him. When did she get there?  
_

_"Sorry, Your Highness. I was only thinking. We should get back to the castle soon, a storm approaches._

_Suzunna looked at the dark clouds. "Yeah, but...Emalia doesn't look worried."_

_"That is Emalia. She may not look worried on the outside, but you never know."_

_"Emalia's brave though! She's not cared of ANYTHING!" Suzunna raised her voice._

_"Keep your voice down. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention." Treath warned. Even though monsters rarely came to the mountain, safety measures were to be taken at all times._

_"But Emalia doesn't..." Suzunna trailed off, walking along side him. Her eyes wandered to his sword. "We're gonna learn to fight, right?"_

_"When the time comes."_

_"Are you going to be out teacher?"_

_"Maybe, but I cannot teach the both of you. Each of you will have different teachers."_

_"But I want you to teach us!" (Where have we heard that before...)_

_"Don't be selfish, Your Highness." Treath said. "Do not worry about that now, we must catch up with you sister." He pointed to the the speck waiting at the top of the hill. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the clouds grow ever closer, his hand reflexively gripped the hilt of Xincher, as Emalia waved her arms through the air, trying to hurry them up. Then he felt a pull on his arm. Suzunna was pulling his arm, grinning._

_"Let's go!" She started running with Treath in tow, her small feet easily dodging rocks and ledges._

_"S-slow down Suzunna!" he laughed as she kept running, eager to rejoin her sister._

_"What took you so long?" Emalia demanded with teasing, deep brown eyes as they reached her._

_"I apologize, I was just thinking. We must return soon, a mighty storm is approaching." Treath said. He was growing more and more tense with each passing minute as the storm drew closer. He could sense it. But then he couldn't. It was truly aggravating. _

_"Alright. But we must stay for a bit." Emalia set up her agreement, which was, of course, impossible to knock down with an argument. _

_"Alright." Treath nodded._

_The twin princess' danced down the stone steps to the shrine below. Not only did they come to see The Skies, they'd come to pray at the shrine. Something that the members of the royal family did, so that the Audrant Shine would keep shining, and so they would not lose their cousins to space's cold embrace._

_The Auldrant Shine must have been as long as Xincher on all ends. He stared at it's beauty as he arrived. The girls were already knelt on the floor, praying. He unsheathed his blade, holding the tip on the floor in front of him, closing his eyes, praying for their safe arrival back to the castle._

_His eyes snapped open as thunder rumbled in the sky, and lightning tore through the sky. The lake turned a murky grey as the clouds covered it. How had to storm advanced so quickly?? Emalia and Suzunna stood behind him, watching the lightning._

_"T-Treath?" Suzunna pulled on his sleeve, her voice shook._

_"Don't worry, Suzunna," Emaila patted her sisters head. "Don't worry." Always the brave one, Emalia._

_"Damn it..." Treath cursed. The storms here always held unstable mana, and fonon levels, attracting monsters, and even more mana and fonons. But was this even mana he felt? It didn't feel like fonons either. The stone gargoyles came to life, stretching their wings. They all knew what that meant. Monsters had come._

_"Treath!!" Suzunna cried._

_"Hurry! Takes my hands, the gargoyles with make a path through the monsters for us!" he took their hands and quickly started to run up the stairs. He heard the girls gasp as they got to the top. Monsters were everywhere. But...His eyes narrowed. These weren't normal monsters. They were...much to dark. There were too many, the gargoyles wouldn't be enough alone. "Stay close behind me!!" He yelled as he unsheathed Xitcher. Emalia grabbed Suzunna's other hand as he let go. A while down the path, it looked like hey would make it. "Don't worry, don't worry!" he tried to calm Suzunna as she cried. "We're going to make it!"_

_He spoke too soon._

_Lightning flashed, blinding hi for a second, but in that second, a piercing scream rang through his head._

_"EMALIA!!!!"  
_

_He spun around. Suzunna was sprinting back up the path, to a white, muddy bundle on the ground._

_"No!" He grabbed her hand._

_"Emalia! Emalia!" Suzunna cried, trying to break his grip._

_He swung the crying girl over his shoulder, and ran to the other, swinging his sword through the monsters in his way._

_"Emalia!" He knelt down next to the small body of the princess. Her eyes were shut tight, she was gasping for air. "Emalia!"_

_"Ema..." Suzunna cried, he could feel the warmth of her tears mixing with the cold of the pouring rain. But he ignored it.  
_

_He stared with a shocked expression on his face as a tiny, black dot formed on Emalia's collar bone. He could feel the same strange force coming from it. He stumbled back, almost dropping the girl on his back. He almost forgot she was there, until she felt her fist beating on his back, and her feet connecting with his chest. _

_"SAVE MY SISTER!!!"_

_The dot disappeared, so did the strange force. And without another thought, he swung the young princess over his other shoulder and sprinted towards the castle.

* * *

_

_Suzunna aged 12, wandered through the castle. Her heeled shoes clicked on the marble floors as she walked. She was headed for her sisters room, Emalia._

_Two years ago, when they became 10 years old, they began lessons in the way of the sword. She never carried her sword, the Serenader, anywhere put the room she practiced in. But Emalia brought her sword, the Beast Killer, everywhere. Suzunna didn't like any form of fighting, but it was required. She really didn't know why they bothered. Everybody knew Emalia was the better swordsman. _

_But she had the Serenader with her now, she was hoping to get a little one-on-one time with Emalia. Having different teachers, they both wanted to know what they'd learned. _

_Suddenly she stopped, her body tensed. She could feel it. Sense it, but then she couldn't. Truly aggravating, as Treath would say._

_She started to run to her sister's chambers. The feeling was getting stranger. "Oh no, oh no oh no oh no...."_

_She arrived. "Emalia!!" she froze._

_Emalia was trying to cover something behind her back. But it wasn't working. Something black and vine like was slithering up her arm. Emalia looked at her with a face mixed with shack, anger and surprise. "What are you doing here?!" she hissed._

_Suzunna stared in horror. "I..." she took a step back.  
_

_"Suzunna-"_

_But Suzunna was already gone.

* * *

_

And voila! There is your blast from the past! Did you find anything out? Or did I just give the whole thing away? Don't tell me I gave it all away. That would make me feel sad.

I'd like to thank my two lone reviewers, bombayxprodigy, and Serena Anges, for their support, because now I know someone other than my sisters are waiting for updates!!! ^^ Happy me!!!_  
_


	7. The Stone's Challenge

Well I'm now using Vista instead of Windows, and I've yet to completely figure out the Microsoft Word on this thing. So here I am writing in Word since…I don't know, forever? I'm used to writing right in Fan fiction, but the spell check thing was being mean and kept underlining Auldrant, and I got annoyed.

Anyway, enough of my ranting. We're back with our favorite heroes inside the secret passage and the shrine!! Based on this chapter title, and if you took the time to read Beginnings, I think you should be able to guess what this is.

I don't own ToA or ToS! But I do own Treath, Emalia and Suzunna!!

Read on!! …Hey I figure out how to get full screen! Yes!!

* * *

_Previously:_

_Jade wiped the bloody finger down the wall, and then stepped back._

_"What was that for?!" Anise gaped._

_"Peony said that any ones blood would be enough to get us through." Jade said. Then the wall lit up, and symbol flashed on the wall, the wall disappeared with it._

_"Oh..."_

_"Whoa..."_

_"Oh my..."_

_Everybody stared at the large, ancient looking room in front of them, lit by more strange blue light. A pool of water took up more than half of the room and a thin bridge stretched across to the other side. One the far side of the room, a small shrine came out from the wall. And in the shrine was what seemed to be the source of the light._

_A large, blue sapphire cut into the shape almost like an arrow head, giving off bright blue light floated just above the stone floor.

* * *

_

"_Congratulations."_ A voice echoed through the room.

"What is that?"

"Where did it come from?" Everybody searched the room for the source of the voice. They found nothing but themselves.

"_You've found me, a piece of the power._

_But I cannot be alone. _

_In shadows my companions still cower._

_Pass my test and I shall be yours, pass their test and their power is yours._

_Find them." _ The voice died out, leaving a cold air in the room.

"So, there's some sort of test." Guy said.

"It appears so." Jade said. "Well, who wants to cross the bridge?"

"What do you mean?" Tear asked.

"Well, it said 'pass my test' so obviously…" Jade waved his hand in the direction of the water.

"Hm…based on the looks of this room, someone small and quick should do it." Guy said.

"Couldn't I?" Mieu asked. Using the power of the sorcerer's ring, he flew forward, and was almost immediately knocked back. "Ow!!"

"It seems only humans can do this then." Natalia said.

"Why don't you try, Anise?" Guy suggested. "You small, and quick."

"What?! I could get killed!!" Anise exclaimed.

"Oh don't worry Anise! We'll be right behind you!" Jade smiled. "Literally."

"Tch! Fine!" Anise threw her hands up. "But when I die, I'm gonna haunt you all, then you'll be in big trouble!"

Tear shivered.

Anise stood in front of the bridge, looking down into the water doubtfully. She took a breath, then stepped onto the bridge. Nothing happened. She looked around and took another step. "Ha! This isn't so hard! I told you I could do it!"

"Oh man…" Guy sighed.

Just then, a loud crack echoed through the room. Anise looked down. The bridge was going to fall! "Ahh!" she turned and started sprinting towards the shrine on the other side as the bridge did indeed begin to break apart into the water below. Just a few steps more…she didn't make it. She curled up into a ball and prepared to hit the probably freezing water.

"Anise!!"

…Why hasn't she hit the water? She cracked open an eye, and gasped. She was floating on the water. She shook as she tried to gain balance, but as the water moved, she moved to. "Ack!" she fell onto her back, the rippling water moved under her as she tried again.

"Well. This is quite interesting." Jade said.

"Hey! This isn't funny!" Anise yelled. "Somebody help me!" she fell again, then started to crawl to the wall.

"Get to the wall! Use it to stand!" Guy instructed her.

"Why don't one of you get in here?!" Anise yelled as she slipped and crawled at the same time.

"Oh, but it seems like you're having so much fun, we wouldn't want to ruin it for you!" Jade teased.

"Hey!"

"Oh all right then." Jade sighed.

"You're going, Colonel?" Natalia asked in surprise.

"No," he smiled. "Guy is." He proceeded to push Guy into the pool.

"Wait what? Hey!!" Guy fell in. "Jade!!"

"Guy! What are you doing? Go help her!" Jade scolded.

"Yes Guy! Get over there!" Natalia said.

"…" Tear sighed again. "Dear Lorelei…"

Guy managed to stand, and made his way over to Anise. Well, more like jumped his way over. "Anise! Try to jump!"

"Easy for you to say!" Anise dug her nails into the wall, and stood up on shaky legs.

"Trust me!"

They heard a click, and looked down.

"Ahh!" Anise started to scale the wall.

Spikes had started to rise from the floor.

"We're gonna die!!" Anise cried.

Just then, Jade had an idea "Quick, get as close to the ledge as you can!" he commanded them. But Anise wasn't moving.

"Damn it!" Guy hesitated, then grabbed Anise, flinging her over his shoulder.

"Huh?" Anise opened her eyes in surprise.

"Colonel, what are you planning?" Tear asked.

"_Turbulence!!_"

"Whoa!" Anise and Guy were flung up into the air, away from the water and spikes, which had just come to the surface, and landed with a thud. Right in front of the stone.

"Well…" Guy said, shaking slightly. "That was…eventful…"

"Guy!" Anise grinned. "You got over your fear!!"

"Y-yeah. I guess so!" Guy grinned.

"Yay!" Anise hugged him around the waist.

"G-gah!" Guy started shaking.

"Woops, heheh, I guess not!" Anise smirked. She stood up, and walked over to the floating stone. "Whoa! This thing is huge!"

The blue stone was as long as a sword, and wider than Anise was.

"Jeez, how are we gonna carry this back?" Guy said behind her.

"I guess you're going to have to demonstrate your strength for us, Guy!" Jade yelled from the other side.

"What?! I'm not going to carry this thing all the way back!!" Guy exclaimed.

"Then how else are we gonna do it?" Anise smirked.

"Ugh…fine." He walked forward, and picked up the stone in his arms. "Hey, it isn't that heavy."

"But how are we getting ba-oh." Anise stopped half way through her sentence as a streak of light stretched across the room, forming a shining bridge as it widened. She grinned. "Let's go Mr. Carrier!!"

"Well now that that's done," Jade said as they arrived.

"Why don't you carry this thing?" Guy glared.

"I thought you said it wasn't heavy."

"I never said it was light either!"

"Well in that case, I probably shouldn't." Jade smirked.

"You jerk."

"Hey! Look!" Mieu pointed to the floor as another symbol drew itself.

"What id it?" Natalia asked.

"…Looks like a return glyph." Jade said.

"So I don't have to carry this thing all the way out?" Guy said.

"Yes."

"Great!" Guy happily stepped onto the glyph.

"Yes, I rather dislike the idea of going through that tunnel again." Tear said.

"Afraid?" Jade said from behind her.

"N-no!" Tear shivered, she could have sworn Jade was just beside Anise! Her hair stood up on end.

"I think she is." Anise laughed.

"No I'm not! The very idea is absurd!"

"Everyone, stop teasing Tear!" Natalia scolded as they disappeared with the glyph.

* * *

"Finally, we can get back to Baticul." Anise sighed, finding herself just outside of Grand Chokmah.

"Yes. We should hurry." Jade was serious again.

"Something up Jade?" Guy asked.

"I can't be sure…All I know is that we need to get out of here. Now." As he spoke, many vines shot out from the city, heading straight for them.

"Run!!" Anise yelled, they all started sprinting again to the Albiore.

"Guys! What's going on?!" Noelle exclaimed as the boarded. "What is that?" she looked at the glowing jewel in Guy hands.

"We need to get out of here! Fast!" Guy said.

"Head south! Don't cross the sea!" Jade said.

"Why not?" Natalia and Anise asked as the Albiore flew up into the air. Just as it turned south, the entire plane shook.

"Ahh!"

"That's why! The plants are attacking us! They want the sapphire, and they keep attacking, we'll end up crashing in the ocean!" Jade explained,

As they passed over the Theor Forest, more vines shot up. "What? I thought they were only in Grand Chokmah!" Anise exclaimed.

"It appears they've spread." Jade said as the plane shook again and again.

Just then, they heard a loud creak, then something outside snapped.

"We're not gonna make it!!!" Anise cried as the Albiore started to fall.

"Damn it! The wing! They broke the wing!!" Noelle yelled.

"Keep going! We need to get to Engave!" The plane stopped shaking.

"They're gone? Why'd they leave?" Guy said.

"They probably sense that the plane with crash." Jade replied.

"We're going to crash!!" Natalia cried.

Everything was red, white and purple. Purple? Anise cracked an eye open and gasped. They were laying on the ground, surrounded by dirt, fire and metal. Tear had sang a fonic hymn and they were so distracted they didn't even notice.

"Is everyone…alright?" Tear asked, as she got to her knees.

"Yes…What was that?" Noelle rubbed her head.

"It seems Tear's fonic hymns have saved us again." Jade looked at the rubble around them.

"Oh my…" Natalia gasped.

"Can we still salvage the hover drive and flight stone?" Guy asked, the sapphire still in his arms.

"Guy!" Natalia scolded. "Thinking of fon machines at a time like this!"

"No! I mean, if we can, we could get Aston to make a new Albiore, right?"

"…Yes, you're right. I'm sorry Guy."

Jade started to cast an arte to put out the fire, and Guy began to look for the flight stone and hover drive in the rubble.

"I got it." Guy appeared again.

"Then let's head to Engave." Jade picked up the sapphire and started walking to the windmill in the distance.

"Humph. Now he carries it…" Guy muttered as they also made their way out of the rubble. Noelle took a last look at the plane that she used to pilot, and followed them.

* * *

Yay! Another chapter!!! Yes, I killed the Albiore! But fear not, they get to use the Abliore III for a time…Until Aston finishes that is!!


	8. The Imperial Sapphire and Royal Emerald

Behold! Chapter 8!! Let's see, what happened last chapter…? Right! I killed the Albiore II. Yay for Tear for saving them!!

I don't own ToA or ToS.

Read on!!

* * *

"My! What happened?" Rose exclaimed as they entered the village.

"We ran into trouble. Could we ask for a place to stay for tonight?" Guy asked.

"Of course, of course! Come this way, to the inn. You can explain everything there." Rose's eyes wondered to the large sapphire in Jade's arms.

Jade saw this. "I'm sorry, we aren't at liberty to speak about this."

"Of course." Rose said again. "Kelly! Prepare a room for these people immediately!" she said as they walked into the inn.

"Right away!"

Rose nodded when ever they got to a point in their story when they said they couldn't tell anybody-which was most of it. She nodded once again then said "I'll prepare a carriage for you first thing in the morning."

"Thank you."

* * *

--1 DAY LATER--

* * *

The sapphire had been wrapped in thick brown cloth so they wouldn't attract attention, and Guy ended up carrying it again.

"With the added weight of that cloth, I wouldn't be able to leave the inn!" Jade had said.

"You jerk." Guy was starting to talk like Luke now...

They took a ship back to Baticul, spending most of their time talking about the stone.

"Do you think...that the shadow that possessed Luke was after this stone?" Tear said.

"Most likely," Jade said. "It's most likely also using Luke to get to the rest of them."

"But we won't let that happen!" Anise said.

"Yeah!" said Mieu.

"And it's willing to do anything to do it." Guy added, slightly referring to it's using Jade as bait for Luke.

"Why Luke though?" Anise asked. "The Colonel walked right into the forest without it doing anything. He could have just-"

"Anise? Are you saying you'd rather have me in Luke's place? I'm hurt." Jade said.

"No! That's not it! I mean, why is everything always after Luke?" Anise asked herself. "Maybe I wanna be the damsel in distress once and a while."

"So you would rather be in Luke's place?" Guy said.

"...No." Anise glared at him, puffing her cheeks out. "It's always Luke..."

Now however, they were back in Baticul, in the audience room of the castle.

"I've never actually seen the stone." Peony said as Guy handed the sapphire to him. "All I know is that it's location was passed down in the royal family. Of course, I didn't fully understand it when I was a kid. I thought the story of the Imperial Sapphire was just a story."

"Really?" Anise asked.

"Yep. My father used to tell me a story. A really old story, of how a long time ago, like, before the Dawn Age, there was a stone. And that stone was split into five pieces because of its power. It was said that the Imperial Sapphire was a part of this."

"Father! Did you know about this?" Natalia looked at her father.

The king sighed. "I suppose there is no longer any point in hiding it. I was only supposed to tell of it when you became queen, Natalia."

"What?"

King Ingobert stood up. "Follow me, I wish to show you something."

The King led everybody to from the audience hall, to his chambers. He felt around behind an old picture of Baticul, and they heard a soft click as a part of the wall slid away.

"Whoa! There's a passage here too?!" Anise exclaimed. She looked into the stone passage. It smelled like old stones and something she couldn't identify.

"Yes, it was only built recently, by my great-grand father." Ingobert explained as he walked in.

They found themselves in a small room, there were no lanterns, but the room was filled with a green light.

"Another stone..." Guy said.

A green stone much the same size and shape of the Imperial Sapphire floated just above the ground, there was a small set of words behind it.

"The Royal Emerald." said the King.

"Is there a challenge for this one too?" Tear asked.

"No." Ingobert shook his head. "When my grand father heard of this stone, he searched deep beneath the castle for it. When he found it, he suffered a great injury in the challenge set for it. The words written on the wall here are the words he heard when he found it."

"Congratulations, you've found another piece." Guy read. "But I alone am not enough. My companions await your arrival, in watery prison, in death's shadow, solid protection, and cold embrace. Find them."

"It's just like the Imperial Sapphire." Tear said.

"When I became the king, I was told the same story. Of how an ancient power was split. How one of the pieces was hidden here by Kimlasca-Lanvaldear herself."

"The first queen?"

"It was said that the first Emperor came to his door, and found his sister half dead, telling him to hide it." Peony said. "That's all I know. The story used to be a lot more, but as time passes, everything gets more diluted, the details were lost during the Dawn Age."

"Wow. I feel like we've just uncovered the biggest secret in the world." Anise said.

"That's because we have," Jade said.

"Let's leave these guys here for now." Peony walked forward and let go of the sapphire. It fell, but didn't the ground, instead it started to move and float next to it's companion.

"Do you know where the original chamber is?" Tear asked.

"No. It was sealed to prevent intruders. Instead he brought the stone here." King Ingobert answered.

As they all came into Ingobert's room again, the wall slid back into place.

"You know, I'm surprised that this kind of thing hasn't been found out." Anise said.

"We were close to losing it," Ingobert said. "My grand father nearly told everyone."

"So you guys are related to the person who set all of this up? That's amazing!" Anise exclaimed.

"No, that's most likely incorrect." Natalia said.

"Natalia, we don't care if you're not-" Guy started.

"That's not what she's talking about." Jade said. "It's been thousands of years. The original blood of the royal family was most likely lost in that amount of time."

"Oh,"

"He's right, the royal family hasn't always had red hair and green eyes," Ingobert said.

"But it's still cool," Anise said. "Oh, how I wish I had a life like yours..."

"Keep dreaming Anise." Guy laughed.

* * *

"In watery prison. We've found that one... In death's shadow, solid protection and cold's embrace..." Guy muttered to himself.

"What are you doing, Guy?" Jade said from the door way.

Guy sat back on his bed. "I'm just think about those stones. Should we keep looking for them? Where would we look? And now we don't even have the Albiore anymore."

"Hm. I see."

"That's it?" Guy said.

"What more is there?"

"I dunno. I feel like we should be doing something, not just sitting here."

"Well that's good then, because we've been called to the audience room." Jade said.

"Huh? Why?" Guy looked up.

"Trouble. In the Zao Desert."

* * *

Yeah, this is shorter than the other chapters, but I wanted to have the events in the desert to it's own chapter. This is gonna be fun...


	9. Trouble in the Zao Desert

Well, I hit a new record in hits the other day, and I had 123 hits, mostly due to The Arte of Toddlers! Heh, people seem to like that story...heh...just wait 'til the end...

I Don't own ToA or ToS.

Read on!!

* * *

"What's going on?" Guy asked as he and Jade arrived back in the audience hall.

"We've found movements of the strange fonon moving towards the Zao ruins."

"Chief of Staff Seseman, when did you get here?" Jade asked.

"I was in Belkend until a short while ago." Sesman replied. "It's those weird plants again! They've moved away from Grand Chokmah."

"They're gone?" Anise asked.

"No, what I mean is that they've stopped growing there. Instead, they've started growing in the Zao Ruins!"

"Wait, if they're there, wouldn't that put Chesedonia in danger?" Guy said.

"And the people in the Oasis." Tear said.

"And let me guess. You want us to go check it out?" Anise asked.

"Exactly." Peony said. "I know it's dangerous, but you guys have saved the world once, you can do it again, right?"

"Oh, maybe, maybe not." Jade shrugged. "Maybe it'll be Anise stuck to a wall."

"Yeah, then she'd be the damsel in distress." Guy said.

"Hey! That's not funny!" Anise glared and puffed out her cheeks.

"Guy, are you insinuating that the Colonel is really a woman?" Natalia gasped.

"N-no! That's not what I meant!!" Guy shook his head.

"Okay 'cause that would be...weird." Anise said.

"What? I wouldn't make a good woman?" Jade teased.

"Stop that! You're putting bad images in my mind!" Guy tried to shake of the strange images that were in his head.

"Guy!" Natalia gasped again. "You pervert!"

"Yeah Guy!" Anise joined.

Jade laughed while Tear sighed. "Guys, stop teasing Guy." she said. "Let's go."

* * *

They said good bye to Seseman, Peony and Ingobert, visited the many shops in Baticul, and were on their way. Not long after they left the city, however, Anise was already complaining.

"Oh...This is gonna take so much longer now with out Noelle." she whined.

"Yeah, but she went back to Sheridan right? Didn't she say Aston had a new project?" Guy said. "Just for us?"

"Did he?" Jade said. "Hm. I wonder what it could be!"

"Like you don't already know!" Guy said.

"It's probably another Albiore." Anise said. "And with the flight stone and hover drive from the second one, it'll be finished faster!!"

"Hopefully." Tear said. "If it is another Albiore."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Tear." Natalia said.

"I'm not."

"Let's hurry to Chesedonia. Astor probably has more information on this that we do right now." Guy said.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Stop saying that!"

* * *

"Well, come about the problem in the Zao Ruins have you?" Astor said in his usual...happy, welcoming voice.

"Yeah. Has anything bad happened?" Anise asked.

"Hm...Classify bad." Astor said.

"That bad?" Guy sighed.

"Well, all I really know is that part of the ruins have fallen apart, probably miles underground by now." Astor said. "They haven't spread all that much but we can't tell. It would be too dangerous to send just anyone in. If they spread too far though..."

"And you want us to check it out?" Guy said.

"Would you?"

Darn it, right into his trap, Guy thought.

"Well then, why don't we go to see what's going on?" Jade said.

"You don't even sound a bit worried!" Guy exclaimed.

"But if I were, everyone else would be as well, and then no one would go!" Jade shrugged.

"Guy, is something wrong?" Tear asked.

"No."

"..."

"Good luck!" Astor said as they left.

* * *

Anise gasped as the Zao Ruins came into view. Not many plants were visible, but what was visible was the large cracks that ran through the ground.

"These cracks..." Natalia gasped too as they walked right along side one.

"Astor was right. This place is falling apart." Guy said. "Does that mean there might be another stone here?"

"Considering what we saw in Grand Chokmah, most likely." Jade said, looking down into the deep break in the earth.

"It's like when the outer lands were falling all over again." Anise said.

"...Yes."

"Are you thinking about Luke?" Natalia asked Tear.

"...How could I not? He...I don't want to lose him again." Tear said, staring at the ground.

"Don't worry. We'll get him back, no matter what." Natalia said.

"Yes, I'm concerned about that too" Jade said. "What ever possessed Luke hasn't done anything other than that. Is it waiting for something?" Jade said.

"Yeah, it's getting me worried too." Anise said. She sighed as they reached the shade provided by the old pillars and plants.

Guy looked at the walls and the stone stairs cases as they entered. "It's even worse inside..."

Plants and vines covered the walls and the stairs, and the stairs them selves were breaking apart. It was uncomfortable for them all to walk down the stairs like this. Tear's eyes were captured by the strange new flowers blooming from some of the vines. They gave off a strange...glow? Was that even called a glow? She wasn't sure, they sparkled and they looked like she could put her hand right through them...

"Tear!"

"Huh? What?" Tear blinked a couple times. Then she realized how close she'd gotten to a flower, her hand was nearly toughing one of the petals. "Oh!"

"Hm. That's a rather strange little phenomenon..." Jade mused.

"Don't even think about it Jade." Guy said.

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about." Jade continued down the stairs, then paused, lookin back at them. "Well, are you all going to get eaten by that flower, or are we going to investigate?"

"What are you-Ah!" Natalia turned around to see that the 'flower' looked like it was trying to eat her hair. "G-get it off!"

"Hold on!" Tear pulled out a knife and swiftly threw it through the center of the 'flower'. It withered immediately.

"Okay, I'm not going anywhere near any of those things." Anise said. "Let's go! Or the Colonel's gonna leave us all behind!"

"Or get stuck on a wall again..."

"Did you say something Guy?" Jade said from below.

"Nothing!!"

Tear sighed. It was obvious that Guy was trying to lighten the mood with little jokes, but really...A this sort of time? Though the others didn't seem to mind.

Mieu floated around the area where he got the ability to smash rocks. "This is where we found the condensed fonons!" He said, spinning in a circle.

"Yeah, but now..." Guy looked at the large vine that stuck out of the ground He walked to it's sides, inspecting it. "This vine seems really sturdy..."

"Guy, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Anise said with a sly smile.

"I dunno. What are you thinking?" he turned to look at her.

"Probably about using this vine as a bridge to other areas we've yet to see." Jade said.

"Exactly!!" Anise said.

"What? But what of we fall?" Natalia took a step back.

"I'll carry us up!" Mieu raised his hand.

"You can't carry all of us." Tear said.

Mieu's ears dropped.

"B-but it was a good idea!" Tear said, trying to make Mieu feel better.

"But things are getting worse while we just stand here, so I say, we just check it out, real quick and then come back." Anise said, taking a couple steps onto the vine.

"Anise, I don't think that's really,safe." Tear tried to stop her. "Remember what happened in Grand Chokmah?"

"And in Tataroo Valley?" Natalia added.

"Well the only thing that's attacked us so far it that flower, right? And besides, this thing isn't doing anything."

"Is it me, or are they all getting more reckless?" Natalia muttered as she and Tear stood next to Jade as Anise, Guy and Mieu climbed down the vine.

"Oh, I'm sure they're just trying to fill in for Luke...We might as well follow them." Jade said. "After you."

Natalia hesitated, flinging a small glare to the colonel. "Fine. But when we die, you're paying for our funerals." she marched onto the vine, following the others.

Tear didn't say anything as she slowly balanced herself on the black vine and started walking.

It wasn't steep, but still hard to walk on. Considering that nothing was attacking them aside from the hair-eating flowers that lined the large vine, they assumed it was safe enough. 'They' being Anise and Mieu.

"It's like it's formed a path..." Guy said as they came to a fork in the...vine.

"Are we going lower down, or keep going over here?" Anise looked at both options.

"I say we keep going this way, look." Tear pointed. "It leads to another path."

"An actual path, at that." Natalia said, she started walking again. "Let's go. I'm very uncomfortable with this."

"Well, why don't we do as the lady says, hm?" Jade started to walk again too.

"You're all getting old." Anise said, following Natalia and Jade, Tear, Mieu and Guy following suit.

"I'm kinda surprised nothing has happened yet. There aren't even any monsters here." Guy said. "It's got me all on edge."

"Me too. Let's just hurry up." Natalia agreed.

"It's making me uncomfortable too." Jade said. "Although...this area looks unfamiliar, so unless you want to go back to the vine path..."

"Absolutely not! I am taking no chances! We keep going!" Natalia charged on.

"Nice one colonel." Anise said.

"Oh, anything to keep the spirits up!" Jade smiled.

"Right..."

This part of the ruined city wasn't like the rest of it. Shrines or small churches lined the old stony streets. Even after 2000 years, though the people in this city died long ago, the things they left behind still left messages. The buildings were falling apart, stone bricks falling to the ground as they passed. Except for one.

The buildings were getting more and more sparse, until they came to a wrought iron gate. An old, rusted lock held heavy chains around the bars. It was easy to break with Guy's sword. He opened the gate slowly, a loud, ear splitting creak echoed through the entire city.

"Whoa. I'm kinda glad we took this path. Look at this place!" Guy looked at the building at the end of the street. No bricks were falling off of this building, but the walls and carvings were very dirty, giving them an old, decrepit feeling, like they should be falling apart. It was small, but surely, something so small and grand looking HAD to have something underneath...right? "I wonder what's inside!" he ran up, taking no notice to the sudden abundance of plant life around him. He pulled on one of the cold metal handles, and the door slowly opened. "Gah! What's...this thing made of!" Guy strained to open the door farther. "Isn't anybody going to help me?"

"No, I think you've got it _handled_." Jade said.

"Jade! Quit that!"

"Yeah! Cut the jokes! And no old man excuses either!" Anise started to push Jade towards Guy.

"Yeah! Go Jade!" Mieu started cheering.

"Oh, alright." Jade gave in to Anise's pushing. Partly because it is rather painful to have her hands digging into your back. He slid through the opening in between the double doors, pushing the door out from the inside. "It's dark, and if I break my neck, you're paying my medical bill, Anise." he said as the door started to open faster.

"What?! I can barely pay for food! You can't expect me to do that!!" Anise exclaimed.

"You should just ignore the colonel's jabs, Anise." Natalia said.

Guy leaned over, panting as the door finally got wide enough to actually walk through without scuffing a sleeve, which Natalia or Anise would have complained about.

"Hm...solid sold..." Jade mused.

"Oh, really?" Anise eyes the door.

"I am not carrying any part of that back." Guy said

"Who said anything about that?" Anise said as they all walked through the door.

"Can we get some sort of torch in here? I can't see anything." Tear said. It wasn't all that light before either.

That was Mieu's cue. He immediately started to blow fire almost non-stop.

Anise gasped. The walls around her were made of bronze, and silver. The walls seemed to shimmer through the dust and dirt around her. A stair case that led somewhere below "How has this place lasted for so long?!"

"Incredible..." Guy said.

"Let's see what we can find." Jade said, stepping around small roots and rocks to the stairs.

"How far down do you think it goes?" Anise asked.

"We'll just have to see." Guy said, He looked at the walls around him. "I wonder what this place was used for back then..."

"What? Suddenly history is your obsession ?" Jade said.

"Well this sort of stuff really makes you wonder..." Guy said.

"It's amazing.." Tear agreed. "Surely there must be something keeping this place in such a good condition."

"I agree. That something is probably down below." Natalia said.

"Come on, come one! Let's hurry up!" Anise urged them.

"Slow down Anise, you'll...fall..." Guy trailed off. The had reached the bottom of the stairs, and as they did, the room was lit with red lights. "Oh..."

"Yes Anise, we wouldn't want you to fall!" said a voice behind them. A familiar voice.

"Luke!" Yes, they turned to see Luke standing at the bottom of the stairs behind them. He was smiling.

"Luke!" Tear took a step forward, but she stopped when she noticed his eyes. They weren't that soft green she remembered. They were cold and icy. "Luke...?"

"Hello, Tear." Luke said.

Tear took another stepp forward, intending to run to him, but Jade stopped her. "Hey!"

"No...That isn't Luke." Jade said, holding his hand in her way.

"Ha." Luke smirked and took a step to the side. "Nothing gets past you does it, Necromancer?"

"What are you talking about, Luke? What's going on?" Guy asked, side stepping as well, keeping in front of him.

"You see that behind you? Do you know what that is?" Luke pointed.

"No. But I'm sure you're going to tells us, Luke. If you are Luke." Guy said calmly.

"It's a tomb. And I'm sure you know what's laying atop it. But do you know who's tomb it is?" Luke smiled.

"Malkuth." Jade said.

"Humph, you really think so?" Luke said.

"It's a logical guess." Jade replied, he eyed the torches that hung on the walls.

"Well you're right. It is Malkuth's tomb."

"And how would you know that?" Jade said, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Who are you, really?"

"I've already told you..." Luke said, then suddenly he was gone.

"Luke?!" Guy yelled.

"Luke?" Tear looked around her. But then, the red light was also gone. No, not gone, much dimmer.

"I'm your worst nightmare..." Luke laughed. Tear spun around. Luke was standing on the other side of the room, holding in his arms, the ruby that used to be on Malkuth's tomb.

"What are you doing?" Anise glared at him. This obviously wasn't the real Luke. "What did you do to Luke?!"

"What are you talking about? You're looking at him!" Luke said. "It was really nice of you though, the lead me right to the ruby."

"So you're the one controlling these plants then?" Guy said. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm not going to explain myself to you. All I want is the stones. The keys." Luke said. "So why don't you tell me where you hid the last one hm? It'll save you a lot of pain."

"What? You don't already know where to find them? How did you know the last one was in Grand Chokmah then?" Anise said.

"That was the only one I knew of. She never told me of the other ones." Luke said. "So why don't you just tell me?"

"Who's 'she'?" Natalia asked, she held up her bow. "Answer me!"

"Oh, I'm scared." Luke laughed. "Well, I can see this isn't going anywhere, and probably never will." he snapped his fingers, and the ruby disappeared, so did the light. "I'll just have to take care of you then, so you don't get in my way!"

"I can't see!" Anise exclaimed, she held her hands over her head.

"Where is he?" Guy took out his sword to defend himself. Then he felt a sharp pain in his back.

"I'm right here!"

"Everybody stay down!" Jade yelled trough the darkness. "Infernal Prison!!"

Luke was caught in the fire of Jade's arte, and as the cage exploded, the torches that lined the wall came to life. "Anise, go!"

Anise came from behind Luke as he stood, completely uninjured, having used guardian. "Hyah!" Tokunaga brought a large hand down on the floor where Luke was. "Huh?!"

"He's fast..." Guy muttered as he attemped to cut Luke where he landed, only to have him disappear again.

"Judgment!!" Tear shouted as white beams hit the ground all over the room.

Luke was temporarily blinded, but when his sight came back, a spear was already at his neck. "Heh, fast huh?"

"Don't move." Jade said, holding his spear to Luke's neck.

"Luke! Why are you doing this?!" Natalia pointed an arrow at him.

"Why? What are you talking about?! None of this should be happening!" Luke glared. "This place is a mess. I'm only trying to fix it. It's bad enough that mana was exiled from this world. As things stand now, you're all on the path to extinction!"

"Mana? What is that?" Anise asked. "Exiled?"

"And that's why you're all going to die along with this city!" Everybody was blown against the wall as a burst of fonons came from Luke. His eyes weren't green at all anymore, they were white."Heh...See you later...or not!" he disappeared in a whirl of gold and black fonons as the room began to shake. Dirt, dust and stones fell from the ceiling.

"We gotta get outta here!" Anise started to run up the stairs, everyone else following soon after her.

"Hurry!"

Large rocks and parts of the paths above were falling and breaking apart on the ground as they ran out. "Hurry across the bridge, before it falls!" Guy shouted as the bridged started to crack.

"We won't make it!" Natalia said, stoppeing in front of it.

"Not if you just stand there!" Guy pulled on her arm, forcing her to run behind him. Jade stopped not even half way across. as the bridge started to crumble from both sides.

"Damn it, Tear, sing a fonic hymn!"

"Alright!" Tear held her staff, struggling to keep her balance as the bridge gave a violent shudder.

"Ahh! The bridge is falling!" Anise cried. "Hurry Tear!!"

"I don't wanna die!" Mieu hugged her.

Everything went purple and white, and Anise could feel herself falling. 'We're gonna die, we're gonna die. We're gonna fall right into the core...' she thought. Then everything was black as they hit the ground and the shield shattered.

* * *

Voila. That took a long time to write, partly because I was listening to epic trailer music an YouTube, and partly because I had the strangest, urge to watch three episodes of Pokemon...Uh huh...Well, now that this is finally finished, I think I shall start on another chapter of a certain story...

* * *


	10. Beginnings Part 2

Yay! A long weekend! That means more writing time for me!! And more chapters to read for you!

Yes, this is another Beginnings chapter, a couple of years have passed since the last one so...yep.

I don't own ToA or ToS.

**Alert: Challenge alert! Challenge alert! Go to the bottom for details!! It's for ToS!!! I presume it's mainly for Zelloyd fans...  
**

Read on!!

* * *

_"Did you hear? It's Princess Suzunna, there's terrible rumors. They say...they say that Princess Suzunna is dead!"_

_"What?! How?!"_

_"Nobody knows! They say that she went missing last year."_

_"Last year...That's the same time that the said she was ill."_

_"Yeah! But the search parties came back with nothing! They waited until now to announce her death."_

_"Oh my...Why didn't they send us? What about her sister? The poor thing, she must be horrified."_

_"They say she hasn't come out of her room in days. She won't even come for dinner."_

_"Oh no...The poor princess'..."_

_"Don't worry Flin, everything will be fine."_

_This was the daily meeting of the High Auldrant Guard. There were only six members, and only one was elven. Cheresa, Flin, Gredgor, Katherine, Malla and Sylvia. _

_"Have they found the culprit?" Malla asked. _

_"Cheresa blew her light blond hair out of her face. "No, but..." she shifted uncomfortably._

_"They say and elf might have done it." Slyvia finished, glaring at the table. _

_"What?!" Flin jumped up. "Why would anyone want to do such a thing?! Sylvia! This is one of your own blood their accusing!"_

_"I know that...Discriminatory bastards..." Sylvia muttered, she crossed her arms and legs and leaned back in her chair.  
_

_"I agree, what about your sister, isn't she in the Elven Court? What are they saying?" Gredgor asked. _

_"Pfft. I haven't spoken to her in a long time. How should I know?" _

_"Just wonderin'." Gredgor said gruffly. _

_"...Why is it that there's only one male here?" Flin looked at all the faces around her._

_"I don't know. When did Gredgor get here anyway?" Malla asked, jabbing a thumb in Gredgor's direction._

_"Transferred remember?" Gredgor grinned. "From the High Aselian Guard to here. I gotta say, it's a nice upgrade." he stroked his small beard. _

_"'Cause you're surrounded by girls.." Katherine muttered._

_"Where did this topic come from?" Cheresa asked. She stared at Flin, who was twirling a lock of orange hair around her finger._

_"I dunno." She smiled. _

_"Ah, Flin's just trying to kick the gloom out the door, aren't ya?" Gredgor laughed and ruffled her hair._

_"Hey!!" Flin glared. Gredgor laughed. Flin was small, and he was big, that was all there was to it. _

_"What about the Planetary Court? What are they doing?" Katherine asked. _

_"Well, there wasn't any blood anywhere when they first found out she was gone, so..." Cheresa trailed of. "I think they're thinking on...banning mana." _

_"Huh? Banning mana? How?" Flin tilted her head. "What about the fonons, they can't ban them."  
_

_"I don't know." Cheresa shrugged. "But they've got the Elven Court, and their own elven comrades to deal with."_

_"Half of the Court is elven right?" Gredgor asked._

_"Yeah, they decided to keep it even." Cheresa nodded. _

_Katherine swayed in her seat. Her blue-green hair fell over her shoulders, and covered her face, giving her a dark appearance._

_"Kate, what are you doing?" Malla asked. _

_"Just...thinking." Katherine brushed her hair out of the way. She smiled. "So, what's Treath been up to?"_

_"I...have no idea. Last I heard he was wondering around Malkuth-Cresent's territory." Malla tilted her head in thought. "I guess without someone to teach, he's gone wondering about."_

_"Hm..So Emalia won't even come out for sword practice. The poor thing. Someone should be checking up on her." Katherine said. Flin nodded in agreement._

_"I'm sure she's fine, but right now, shouldn't we be talking about something else?" Gredgor asked._

_"Something waay more serious than this." Flin said with a poker face.  
_

_"Yes." Cheresa stood up. She looked at all of the faces. "A princess has been killed, the culprit hasn't been found, the Courts are practically at war, mana is on the verge of being banned and...We may soon be disbanded to..."

* * *

_

_Emalia sat on her bed in her pajamas, reading a book. Every once and a while, she looked over the top to her sword, then to the picture of her, and her sword teacher, Treath Aurion. She stared at the fading photo, wondering where in Malkuth'c country he was now. She shook her head and shivered as something cold brushed her elbow._

_"No, get down Dirryst." She pushed the white eyed black cat off her bed. He meowed, slinking over to the corner to lay down. "Cat..."_

_She set the book on her nightstand, staring at her ceiling through the canopy of her four-poster bed. Exactly one year ago was the last time she saw her sister, Suzunna-Victarisa. And as cliched as it was, it was stormy then. She sighed. _

_"Not supposed to happen...But..."_

_The Serenader still hung in her room, across from her own, the Beast Killer. The blue-crystal sword looked out of place in her bedroom, but she wasn't going to let the blacksmiths have it back again. She needed it. She stared at the wing shape on the hilt. Way out of place. But still..._

_"What's done is done, Miss."_

_Emalia looked over at Dirryst. The cat was staring at her with blank white eyes. "What's taken will eventually have to be given back anyway." _

_"Oh? And where do you find the right to say this?" Emalia said coolly._

_"...I know my words say that I too will eventually die, but who says that that time will come any time soon?" Dirryst replied. "Anyway, we've got bigger things to think about. Like the Queen."  
_

_The fourteen year old princess glared at the cat quickly then stood up, and walking into her closet. "Stay, Dirryst." she said as the cat stood to follow._

_"Humph..."_

_Emalia came back out carrying a single black leaf that seemed to be moving. "I'm the person that has allowed you to live for these past years. And I can easily destroy you, do you get what I'm saying?"_

_"...Yes..." Dirryst stared at the small black leaf with extreme dislike. "I get it, so can you please put that thing somewhere else?"_

_"Hm...You know, I think I'll just leave it here." Emalia smirked as she set the leaf on the window sill near her bed. Dirryst shivered. Emalia walked back over to her bed an picked up her book.  
_

_"Um...So why don't we see what your progress is?" Dirryst asked after a few minutes of silence, trying to find a way to get away from the leaf that seemed to be drawing his power even from across the room. Emalia looked up at him, in the middle of a note. _

_"We checked yesterday." she said, finishing her note._

_"...Well, progress is progress..." Dirryst said nervously._

_"Oh get used to it!" Emalia said. "You aren't even fully grown, but that leaf shouldn't be a problem."_

_Darn it. "Sorry! It's still uncomfortable!" _

_Emalia sighed and shook her head in annoyance, but she stood up anyway, her back facing the black cat in the corner. A pair of small, dark silvery wings appeared on her back. They were small, barely reaching past her shoulders, but they gave off bright and dark light at the same time as they flapped silently behind her. _

_"Hm.. well okay. There isn't much of a difference..." Dirryst muttered._

_"I told you." Emalia paused before laying down again, then changed her mind. "Fetch me my shoes. I think I'll take a walk...Up to The Skies..." Emalia smiled thinly. Dirryst shivered slightly, and went to find the shoes that she went walking in. Shoes that she rarely wore._

_Emalia kept smiling as she changed from her pajamas, and slid the sword into it's sheath on her belt. She put on her shoes, the heels making a soft clicking noise as she walked to the door. "Come on, Dirryst."_

_"Why?" Dirryst asked. He was just getting comfortable on Emalia's bed._

_"Let's go, Dirryst." Emalia said, lowering her voice._

_"C-coming." Dirryst jumped of the bed and followed his mistress down the corridor.

* * *

_

_"Ugh. Annoying guards..." Emalia muttered as she began climbing the mountain._

_"They're only worried for your safety, Miss." Dirryst said, stepping carefully around small rocks a he walked beside her._

_"...Hurry up Dirryst. It's windy out, and I want to do something." Emalia ordered instead of responding to Dirryst._

_"Right"_

_Emalia clutched her jacket closer to her shivering slightly as her dress blew around her legs. She stared into the lake for a moment as they reached the top. The colors shimmered brightly, as if they didn't care about what was happening in the worlds around them. She turned and started down the stone steps, down to the shrine of the Auldrant Shine."_

_Dirryst walked quietly behind her, his hair went up on end as they walked past the gargoyles. They moved, sniffing him and the princess from a close distance, but couldn't find anything wrong. He stared at the Auldrant Shine, with all of its different stones side by side, forming a star. "...Will it respond to anything with me here?"_

_"Of course it will, if I give the order." Emalia said as if it was obvious. _

_"Eh, Miss? What are you planning on-oh don't tell me." Dirryst gasped slightly in realization as Emali raised her hand to the stone. A small ball of fonons and mana formed in between her and the stone._

_"Let's go, Dirryst." She smiled. Dirryst shivered for what seemed like the millionth time that day. The look he was receiving looked truly evil and malevolent. It scared him, but a servant must follow his master. Especially this one. He hesitated, but followed her through the mix of fonons and mana. Where on Aselia they would end up, he didn't know, but where ever they did, Emalia would still be able to do what she was surely planning.  
_

* * *

**Alert!!!: Challenge!!! Okay, it was requested by Sora I. Highland that I put this into this chapter, a challenge that she is holding!  
**

**I'm not giving you all the details because if I do, that might make you think that this is my challenge. If you want the details, go to Sora I. Highland's profile, scroll down to the challenges section, and it's all there! Good luck to ya! Mwahaha, of course I'm not doing this, I can't write romance worth crap. I'm all humor. **

**DO THE CHALLENGE!!!!! (As you can tell I'm bored now...)**

But on another note, I'm finished this chapter, so it's either the next chapter, or the Arte of Toddlers...Hm...Choices....


	11. Zaaphrir, City of the Minklytes

Okay, now we're back into the present, whereas I left you all on a cliffhanger. But as we all know, the hero never dies so....But who's the hero? Sorry for the long update, my sisters finally got me on facebook because I wanted to play a cafe game...D: Anyway....

Anyway, I'm still aiming for at least 1000 hits this month, and I'm pretty close already! I've already got more that last month, just over 100 left!

I don not own Tales of the Abyss or Tales of Symphonia.

Read on!!

* * *

"Are they alright?"

"They don't seem to be injured in any way."

"Hey! Look!"

"It's him!!"

"Hm...We should report this to the elder."

"Oh, no duh Sherlock."

"Be quiet! I think one of them is waking up!"

Anise groaned. What was with the squeaky voices?

"Hello?"

"Ughn.." Anise rubbed the back of her head. It was very dark, except for the light that was radiating from the...what were these things? "Huh!? Wh-what are you?!" she rolled away from them, staring with wide eyes.

Standing in front of her, standing only about two feet tall, were five blue creatures. They didn't have any hair, but they did have a strange, hat-like growth, which had a glowing ball of light on the end. They were wearing nothing but long skirts, made from different layers of cloth, and it was hard to tell if they were wearing a shirt of not. They stared at her with large, green, yellow, and brown eyes. And they didn't appear to have any fingers or toes.

"We're Minklytes!!" One said with a cheery smile.

"Eh...Minklytes? What...? Ah! What happened to everyone?!" Anise looked around.

"Don't worry, they are alright, see?" Another Minklyte pointed behind her.

Everybody else was laying behind her, completely uninjured, with bits of rubble in their clothes. "What happened?"

"Come, we'll explain everything when we see the elder." Said the Minklyte who appeared to be the oldest of the group. "Can you stand?"

"Uh, yeah..." Anise stood up, shaking the dirt out of her hair. "Um, what about my...friends...?" she trailed of as more Minklytes appeared from the darkness and lifted the other members of her party above their heads. Which looked very strange.

"We'll have to wait until they all wake before we see the elder." the Minklyte said, having no trouble with keeping up with it's comrades and Anise.

"Alright, but-"

"Oh, forgive my rudeness. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Freesia."

"Okay then, Freesia. Um, I'm Anise." she nodded.

"Oh, I already knew that."

"How?"

"I'll explain everything later. Right now, we should get your friends to a bed." Freesia said, quickening her pace.

Anise almost gawked. For some things that were only two feet tall, and with legs not much longer than a couple of her fingers, they were quite fast.

For a while, Anise could only see a few feet in front of her, and the dirt path under her feet. But after a while, she didn't know how much time had passed, she could see more light far along the path. She squinted, but she still wasn't close enough to see. "Um, where are we going?"

"To Zaaphrir. Our home." Freesia answered. "Our city, you could say."

"There's a whole city down here?! How?!" Anise exclaimed.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. Our existence has always been secret, until a few years ago, and now." Freesia said.

"A few years ago?" Anise asked.

"It will be explained later." Freesia said. She looked at the people that the other Minklytes were carrying. "Though I'm quite surprised to see him here..." she mused.

"Who?" Anise wondered. She looked at Guy and Jade, the only two she could have been talking about.

"Sorry, just thinking aloud." Freesia said "Let's hurry, we don't want to be out here for long, or the mana plants will come and find us..."

"Mana...?"

Freesia didn't say anything as they walked on. Soon after though, Anise could see something through the darkness. Buildings? Suddenly everything seemed a lot closer, Anise almost lost her footing. "Whoa!"

"Welcome, to Zaaphir." Freesia said.

"Oh...wow..." Anise gasped as she looked at the buildings that suddenly surrounded her. The architecture was much like the Zao ruins, but they looked in much better condition. They were like any other building on the surface(which surprised Anise considering these creatures were only two feet tall), made of different colored bricks and metals. There must have been thousands of the little blue things walking in and out of different buildings, carrying bags, talking in a language Anise didn't recognize, whispering to one another, and staring at her as she passed. Some just gawked at them, while others pointed to one of her comrades. Which ever one 'he' was. The lighting was much more intense here, as there were more minklytes, and more light emitting from the backs of their heads. It looked like there were all wearing long hats with a snowball on the back, really.

Freesia turned into a building with a sign over the door, an inn, probably. But why would they need an inn in a place like this? Freesia said something in the unknown language, and the lady behind the counter stared at Anise with her mouth hanging open before she shook her head violently, and rushed into the nearest room. She came back out, holding the door open, motioning them to enter.

Freesia nodded to her and her companions behind them. The receptionist continued to stare at Anise wide eyed as she passed.

"Um..." Anise watched as the minklytes proceeded to the beds, lifting her comrades onto them.

"Yes?" Freesia turned.

"Well, if you've been down here all these years, how do you know our language?" Anise asked.

"Oh, we have our ways. I can't tell you, but the elder may." Freesia smiled, nodding to her companions as they left the room.

"Okay...So how long do I have to-"

"Until your friends wake." Freesia answered before she could finish. "You might want to get comfortable, you had a very long fall, so we don't know how long it will take, and..."

"And?"

"I've only seen a human once before so...I don't know how to deal with them." Freesia said.

"Oh that's alright. None of us were hurt anyway." Anise said cheerily. "...Once..."

"Yes, Yulia's hymns are indeed powerful..." Freesia sighed. "It's too bad she never had the chance to meet any of us..."

"Oh really? I thought you wanted to keep your race a secret?" Anise said.

"Yes, that's true. But Yulia was truly a wonderful person...in most aspects." Freesia added.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Where ever there is light, there is always shadow." Freesia said simply.

"What do you mean?"

"She means that as good as a person may seem, they always have a dark side of they're life, things that they don't let anyone else see."

"Colonel! When did you wake up?" Anise asked, looking to Jade, who was indeed awake.

"Oh, only a few seconds ago, really." Jade said. He stood up, and stretched. "Well that was a nasty fall..." he mused.

"You didn't get hurt did you?" Anise wondered.

"Oh you know people like me. Falls like that are painful to a persons back like mine." Jade said.

"Yeah right." Anise said.

"I believe introductions are in order. I am Freesia." Freesia said, craning her head back on her neck to see Jade's eyes.

"Jade. Hm...I feel like I've heard your name before...A long time ago." Jade said quietly.

"Maybe you have, but we'll never know." Freesia said.

"Hey, you said you saw a human once before right?" Anise asked. "When was that? Who was it?"

"Oh, it was years and years ago. I was only a child then, but I was an apprentice to the elder, as I am now." Freesia said. "I was just beginning when a man ended up falling down here. He was an explorer. The elder ordered us to soften his landing...I'm afraid I can't answer your next question, but when we do see the elder-"

"You've been saying that the whole time..." Anise muttered.

"Yes, it does get old, doesn't it? But I'm afraid it's all I can say at this time." Freesia said.

"Mhm..." Anise looked at the other figures on the beds. Mieu was placed next to Tear, Natalia was on the bed next to her, Jade sat on the bed across the room, and Guy slept next to him. "Oh...This is soo boring..." she whined.

"I apologize, I would let you do a little sight seeing but seeing the position we're in..." Freesia trailed off.

"We would probably cause a mild state of panic." Jade said.

"Yes, many of us Minklyes would probably be quite surprised." Freesia nodded.

"Huh...Mink...lytes...."

They stared at Guy, who had rolled over on his bed. Jade stepped over t shake his shoulder. "Are you awake Guy?"

"Huh?" Guy muttered.

"Wake up."

"What? Oh, Jade. You know, I just had the strangest dream." Guy said, rubbing his eyes. "I dreamt that we ran into Luke, and...we fell." Guy said, deciding not to explain what happened with Luke. "And, I kept hearing these weird, squeaky voices. Talking about some elder..."

Freesia wore a slight frown for a split second, but let it pass.

"Isn't that a weird dream?" Guy said.

"Hm...I wish it were." Jade said, sitting down again.

"What do you mean?" Guy sat up and came face to face with Freesia.

"...Hello. Guy, correct?" Freesia smiled.

Guy sat petrified for a moment, then looked at Jade. "That...wasn't a dream...was it?"

"I'm afraid not. But of you like, we can call it a dream." Jade said.

"Eh..." Guy looked back to Freesia.

"My name is Freesia." she said.

"It...talked."

"Of course I did." Freesia said. "I am no dream, nor any monster incapable of speech. I am sorry if this is sudden but-"

"Oh no! Don't apologize! I just-"

"You want what happened earlier to actually be a dream." Anise said.

"...Yeah...I guess."

"Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be fine. When there is darkness, there is always a light to cause it. We'll save your friend." Freesia assured him.

"Thanks." Guy nodded. "So where are we?" he looked around.

"In the city of Minklytes, Zaaphrir." Freesia answered. Suddenly she was on the floor, breathing heavily, her light was gone.

"Freesia?!" Anise jumped up. "What's wrong?"

Just as quickly as it had left, the light was back, and Freesia stood up shakily.

"I apologize. It's the power of the Desert Star...With out it..."

"You'll grow weaker." Jade finished.

"Yes..." she nodded.

"So we have to get it back, right?" Anise said.

"The Desert Star is the source of our power. Without it...We will die."

"Every Minklyte in this city probably just had the same reaction to this as you just have. The longer the stone is away from you, the more frequent these will occur, am I wrong in presuming that the Desert Star is the ruby we found before hand?" Jade said.

"No, that is correct." Freesia said.

"But...Luke has it now. And we don't have any idea where he is, and we have no means of tracking him." Guy said.

"Yeah," Anise said.

"We'll just have to look for him then."

"Tear, Natalia! You're awake!" Anise said happily.

"I'm up too!" Mieu jumped up.

"Yes, I...would someone like to explain what's happened?" Natalia asked.

"I am Freesia." Freesia said. "Hm...maybe that should be my catch phrase now...I am Freesia!"

"It's nice to meet you, Freesia!" Mieu said. He jumped down in front of her. Freesia was only a few inched taller than the cheagle.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mieu?"

"Yep!"

"Tear, and Natalia, correct?" Freesia turned towards the other two.

"Yes." They nodded.

"Well, we're all up and running now, shall we see the elder?" Freesia motion to the door.

"The elder?" Natalia asked, standing up.

"We'll explain everything there." Freesia said. "Let's go."

If it was possible, the receptionists mouth and eyes were open wider as they all passed. She didn't notice when Natalia said a quiet thank you.

They gasped as they were suddenly bombarded with a wave of minklytes, they were all saying the same thing, but they couldn't understand. The minklytes crowded around their feet, mostly Jade's.

"Uh, Jade, do you know why these guys are mobbing you?" Guy asked as he stepped around the creatures easily. Jade was having a harder time.

"I haven't the slightest idea..." he said.

"Wow! There must be a million of these guys!" Anise exclaimed.

Suddenly Freesia shouted through the crowd in her language. It became silent immediately as they stared to run to the sie, forming a path through the city for them. They all kept their eyes on Jade as he walked.

"This is kinda...weird." Anise said.

"Please, we should hurry." Freesia said, quickening her pace. "I would be best if you knew what is happening, and what has happened. It may help you get your friend back." she said, looking over her shoulder to Guy.

Soon, they came to a stone wall, near the centre of the city. Freesia passed right through it.

"What the?!" Anise exclaimed.

"Don't worry." Freesia's voice came from the other side of the wall.

"It's a fonic arte." Jade said, continuing on.

"That is correct, come on." Freesia said.

Anise paused, then shut her eyes as she walked. She opened them again when she nearly tripped over Freesia. "Oh! I-I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry." Freesia said. "Though I have to say, it's not every day someone trips over you..."

Anise looked around to see why Freesia had stopped. They were in a large, round room. The walls were made of a deep bronze, and a red carpet was layed over a shiny stone floor. Minklytes lined the path to the chair at the centre of the room. Sitting in the chair, was an old looking Minklyte, wearing a silver necklace, and a skirt with several designs sewed into it. She wore a plain, gold and bronze circlet.

"Bow your head," Freesia said quietly.

They did as she said.

The elder smiled. "Welcome, human visitors. I am the elder of this ancient city. My name is Yuna."

"My name's Mieu!" Mieu said happily.

"Anise."

"Guy."

"Tear."

"Natalia."

"Jade."

The elder nodded as they each said their names. "Ah...Jade Blafour."

Jade seemed to tense slightly at his original name.

"It feels like only yesterday he was here..." Yuna muttered.

"I apologize. But who are you talking about?" Jade said.

"Ah. No, of course not...It was a promise." Yuna said to herself, then smiled. "A very long time ago, a man arrived in the Zao Ruins. He was an explorer. Monsters chased him to the very edge of the city. He fell. His name was Torran Balfour."

"So Jade father was here?!" Anise exclaimed.

"No." Jade shook his head. "Torran...was my grand father...That's where I remember your name, Freesia. When my grandfather returned from his 'adventure', he would always tell a story to Nephry when she was a baby, so she would fall asleep. About small, magical creatures living deep underground, watching over everything that went about on the surface." Jade said.

"That's amazing..." Natalia said. "So you knew about this?"

"No. I always considered it just a simple bed time story for Nephry..." Jade said.

"But the other minklytes knew about it. That's why they were mobbing Jade, huh?" Guy said.

"Oh, I apologize for that." Yuna said. "I should have warned them."

"Don't worry about it. But I believe Freesia mentioned everything being explained?" Jade said.

"Ah yes. Well, I may as well start with us." Yuna said, nodding. "As you may have taken into account, we are very old creatures, living for very long periods of time."

"How long, exactly?" Tear asked.

"The longest life of a minklyte ever recorded was...I believe 507 years." Yuna said.

"Are you serious?!" Anise exclaimed. "Over a five-hundred years?!"

"Yes, we do live for a long time, and we've existed even longer." Yuna said. "Yes, quite a long time..." she mused.

"But, you've been alive for hundreds of years." Guy said. "How? I mean, you're all female..."

"Oh, there are no males here. We've no use for them. Minklytes ore born of the earth, surely you saw the tall, tree-like flowers on your way here?"

"Yeah, so you mean, minklytes are another type of plant?" Guy asked.

"Hm...A plant of sorts, you may say." Yuna nodded.

"So how old are you then?" Natalia asked.

"Hm..." Yuna paused. "At least 300, I must say. It's hard to find the exact age when you live so long. But I believe Freesia is but just over 50 years of age."

"Really?" Mieu asked.

Freesia turned a darker shade of blue. "Er...Yes that is correct..."

"Hey, um, on the way here," Anise started as silence set over the room. "You said we shouldn't stay out too long or the mana plants will find us. What's mana?"

"Mana. It is like fonons, you could say, but ther are a couple more elements, ice, thunder...But the form you have been seeing is a mutated form of darkness." Yuna said. "Long ago. Thousands of years before, mana and fonons both existed on this planet. But someone started to use a mutation of mana, taking many lives. Mana was exiled by the people known as the Planetary Court,and Elven Court."

"Elven? There used to be elves on Auldrant?" Natalia asked.

"Oh yes, long ago. But they were the only ones who could use the power of mana. They were accused of using that mutated mana, and were exiled with mana."

"Come to think of it, Luke said mana was exiled too." Guy said. Yuna shook her head.

"What?"

"The one with red hair, the one named Luke, is no longer present at this moment." Yuna said.

"What?" Guy gasped. "What are you talking about."

"Before he left you, you met a creature with white eyes, am I wrong?" Yuna said.

"Yes, we did see it, but what...What happened to Luke?" Tear asked.

"That was the creature controlling the plants. Made from darkness mana. It was unable to do anything since it is not a solid life form. But it has possessed your friend in order to go on with its tasks. We believe that, it...he is using Luke to bring back an ancient power that was destroyed long ago, in order to resurrect his master." Yuna said.

"Luke wanted the Imperial Sapphire, and the Royal Emerald. He has the Desert Star...Are all of these stones part of this 'ancient power'?" Guy asked.

"Yes. Unless I am mistaken, there are two stones left. But it will be difficult to find them with no clues." Yuna frowned.

"No, we have clues. One in solid protection. And one in cold embrace." Jade said.

"Yeah, when we found the emerald, a weird voice said another was in death's shadow,"

"the tomb we found." Natalia said.

"Another was in watery prison."

"Underneath Grand Chokmah." Guy said, Yuna nodded.

"Then another in cold embrace and solid protection." Anise finished.

"Hm...Solid protection, I have a few guesses. But cold embrace. Well I think that would be fairly simple." Yuna said.

"Somewhere on Sylvana?" Tear asked.

"Maybe." Yuna nodded again.

"I have another question." Guy said. " You said elves and mana were exiled. I get that they aren't here anymore, but where would they have gone?"

"I'm afraid I don't know." Yuna sighed. "All I do know is that when all of the stone are together, they form one. The power that they have forms a connection, between this world, and somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?" Natalia asked.

"Like another world?!" Mieu gasped.

"Hm, maybe, maybe." Yuna said. "But as long as we have lived, we can not possibly know everything. We have very little contact with the surface after all."

"Is that so? Then how is it that you know everything about us?" Jade asked.

"I said we have little contact with the surface, but I didn't say anything about above." Yuna smiled.

"...The fonons?" Anise guessed.

"Yes. Minklytes have the ability to come into contact with the fonon sentiences themselves." Freesia nodded. "But only Grand Priests and above. Which includes the elder, and me, since I am the apprentice."

"Wow, really? That's amazing!" Natalia said.

"Indeed it is." Jade agreed.

"I wonder what it would be like...traveling to a whole new planet..." Anise wondered.

"And being able to handle different elements than we have now." Guy added.

"Oh but Guy, I'm afraid that's a dream you'll never reach. Seeing as none of use have pointed ears or anything..." Jade said.

"I know that." Guy said dryly.

"Now, there is one more thing I would like to ask of you, aside from returning the Desert Star to us." Yuna started.

"Hey, if we were to find all of the stones, and put the together, would that give you enough power?" Anise interrupted.

"Of course, it would be more than enough. It was split in the first place because of its power." Yuna said. "Now, I must ask you, never to tell anyone you were down here. If people on the surface learn of our existence, it would only cause havoc."

"I agree, when people find power..." Natalia trailed off.

"They fight. We can't afford to have another war now. I agree as well." Jade said.

"So do I." Guy said.

"Don't worry! I'm good at keeping secrets!!" Anise said.

"Me too!" Mieu said happily.

"I agree as well." Tear nodded.

"Thank you. And in return, we will return you to the surface, and alert you of anything...incoming, shall we say." Yuna said.

"But uh, how are we getting back?" Guy asked.

"Oh, no need to worry about that." Freesia laughed. "As they say, big things, come in small packages."

"Now, if you'll all put you hand on this." Yuna said, summoning a long thin, white rod in her hands.

"Is this going to be like the Yulia road?" Anise asked.

"Hm...I guess you could say so." Yuna say. "Good bye, every one. I hope we can meet again soon."

"Good bye." They all said.

"Thank you!" Mieu added as they began to glow. Freesia nodded and smiled, waving.

"Good bye..."

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It's been two days since I started this chapter now...You know, truth be told, I didn't expect that chapter to be that long but hey, that's how it goes. Review and tell me what you think!!! I'm over 1000!!!!!

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